the little things
by faithsette
Summary: "She's so busy trying to blink back tears, trying to avoid the look her daughter'd given her as she was wheeled away, that she doesn't notice anyone else sit down in the waiting area, not until there's a small murmur of 'excuse me' and she turns to find a man sitting beside her, a small packet of tissues in his extended hand." AU meeting.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** : I started this story a while back and had hoped to get it out before the new year. While that didn't exactly go as planned, I hope you guys enjoy regardless!

* * *

Kate Beckett paces the hallway, each nerve ending fried, body on edge as she wrings her hands together. Yet another doctor walks by, the fourth in the past half hour, and this time she's had enough.

"Excuse me, hi." She stops him, stepping in his path. "Sorry, yeah, hi. I've been waiting to hear something about my daughter for over an hour now and I'd really like to know what's going on."

"Name?"

"Annie Beckett," she sighs, just glad someone's listening. She watches as he glances down at his clipboard and then back to her, and she's not entirely convinced that stack of papers has anything to do with her daughter. "So? Anything?"

The doctor's eyes soften as he shakes his head. "She's still in surgery," he tells her. "One of the surgeons working on her will be out to talk to you as soon as they can."

With a curt nod he disappears, practically sprinting down the hallway in the way doctors always seem to when you need something. There one minute, gone the next, vanished as if they'd run at top speed just to avoid a simple question.

Still in surgery.

She forces herself to stop pacing, knows it's not doing anything but making her more anxious, and finds her way to one of the fairly uncomfortably looking chairs in the little lounge area at the end of the hall. She takes the one closest to the nurse's station, just in case someone starts looking for her, and plops herself into the worn leather. Her head falls into her open palms, elbows resting on her thighs.

This is definitely the last place she thought she'd end up on Christmas Eve-Eve.

Annie had complained of stomach pains earlier that morning and she'd tucked her into bed with some medicine, an ice pack to lay on her stomach to ease the pain just as her mother had done for her as a child. It seemed to work for a little while and the girl had managed to fall back asleep (or so she'd thought; leave it to her daughter to hold back on mentioning pain because she wants to be strong), but not an hour later Kate was jolted into a panic when she'd heard the most piercing scream coming from the room down the hall.

She almost broke her neck running to Annie's room and she'd walked in to the girl lying in her bed, tears streaming down her face and both palms cupped over the spot just above her right hip.

Picking up her daughter, still a dainty little thing at seven, she'd carried her to the car and drove as fast as she could to the emergency room.

Thankfully, having a wailing child in your arms tends to kick start the hospital staff into action. Annie was taken from her arms and transferred to a gurney in a matter of 60 seconds, tended to by a cluster of nurses asking questions about her symptoms and trying to calm the girl down.

There's nothing harder or more painful than hearing your child cry and not being able to do anything. Annie'd called for her, arms outstretched as she asked for her mother, and Kate rushed to her side, held her small hands in both of hers.

"It's okay, baby," she'd murmured as calmly as she could, not wanting to upset her any further. "It's okay. These nice nurses are going to take care of you, okay?"

"Mommy," Annie'd hiccuped in response, cheeks stained with dry tears. "Hurts."

She'd mustered the best smile she could. "I know, Ann, I know. They're going to fix it though, and then you'll feel all better."

"And then—and then we can get ice cream?"

The question caused a watery chuckle to escape, and she'd nodded, brushed the girl's damp bangs from her forehead. "Yes," she'd promised. "We'll get any kind of ice cream you want."

They'd rolled her away then, promising her that Annie was in the best hands possible and that they'd give her any updates as they got them.

Appendicitis. That's the diagnosis they give her when they come out, a mere fifteen minutes after they'd admitted her. They tell her she's going into emergency surgery; it's the "emergency" in emergency surgery that sets her off, has the tears she'd tried to fight all morning pricking at the backs of her eyes, but they explain that it's only because they don't want her appendix to rupture, which it seems to be on the brink of doing.

She sees her right before she goes in, dressed in the hospital gown she'd been changed into, looking oh so small beneath the sheet covering her body.

"I'll see you as soon as you're out," Kate promises her, pressing a kiss to Annie's forehead, lips lingering for a few extra seconds. "You're so brave, beautiful girl."

"I'm scared," Annie says, bottom lip trembling, a tell tale sign that she's trying her hardest not to cry. "I don't wanna—don't wanna have surgery."

She hums. "Shh, I know. But remember what I said earlier? About how much better you'll feel after this?" Annie gives a small nod. "Don't you want to feel better? You don't want your stomach to hurt like this forever, do you?"

That gets an aggressive head shake. "No."

"Then we have to let the doctors do their job, okay? Can you do that for me?"

The girl takes a deep breath, an action that seems to cause her more pain as silent tears fall from her eyes. Kate's heart breaks, cracks in her chest as she reaches out to wipe the tears with her fingers.

"I can do it," she says quietly.

"We should get her prepped now, ma'am," a nurse says, politely coming to her side with a hand on her shoulder. "She'll be okay."

Kate nods, lips pursed together because she cannot break down in front of her kid. She won't. Instead, she leans down one last time, hands braced on the railing of the hospital bed.

"I love you, sweet girl," she whispers, dusting one last kiss to the crown of her daughter's head.

"Love you too, Mommy."

The nurse wheels her away, leaves Kate to stand in the empty hospital room. It takes a mere 15 seconds for her composure to completely shatter, palms coming to cover her mouth as the sobs break free.

She pulls herself together after a few minutes, swipes at the tears beneath her eyes and takes a deep breath. Someone's likely to come into this room sooner or later, clean it and bring another patient in, and so she leaves, makes her way back out into the hallway to find somewhere to wait.

Sitting still seems impossible, but wandering the halls of the hospital doesn't seem all that appealing either.

She can't bring herself to even leave the floor her kid's on, paranoid that she'll be needed or that something will happen the second she gets in that elevator, and so she decides to find a place to take a break, sit down, and that's how she finds herself in the waiting room at the end of the hall.

The tears continue to roll down her cheeks but the sobs quiet down for now; she hates crying in public, doesn't like to show it, but _god_ , this is her kid. She's been in the hospital more times than she'd like to admit: bullet wounds, scrapes with some knives, broken bones, but that's all her. That she can deal with. This? This she doesn't know how to handle.

Annie's never had any issues, never had any trips to the emergency room—save for that one time when she was a baby and she'd rolled off the couch in the 10 seconds Kate used to grab one of her toys. She'd rushed her to the emergency room, bawling, because she was terrified she'd broken her daughter. But she was fine; Annie rolled onto the pillow Kate was kneeling on at the time, giggled and barely made a whimper, but she freaked.

She feels a bit like that again, only now she's on edge for an entirely valid reason.

She's so busy trying to blink back tears, trying to avoid thinking about the look Annie'd given her as they wheeled her away, that she doesn't notice anyone else sit down in the waiting area, not until there's a small murmur of "excuse me" and she turns to find a man sitting beside her, a small packet of tissues in his extended hand.

"Oh." Letting out a watery chuckle, she sniffles, wipes at her tears before reaching out to grab a tissue. "Thank you."

"Of course," the man says, his voice soft. "Are you—I mean, it seems insensitive to ask if you're okay because you're obviously not, but..."

Lifting her head, she brings her gaze to the man next to her, takes him in. Stunning blue eyes, beautiful and bright even in the dingy beige hospital lighting, an attractive amount of stubble grazing his skin and a kind face. He looks familiar but she can't focus on placing him.

"I look a little crazy, don't I?"

He shakes his head. "No, you look like someone who cares very much about the person that's in the hospital right now."

She hiccups, a small smile forming. "My daughter. Appendicitis. You?"

"My mother, fell off stage after a drunk game of improvisation."

Kate winces. "Oh, wow, I'm sorry. I um, I hope she's okay?"

"She's a little banged up, a few bruises and a sprained wrist, but she'll be just fine. I take it your daughter's in surgery right now?" At her raised brow, he chuckles. "I had mine out as a kid too, and I can only assume my mother looked something like you do right about now."

"Oh," she breathes. "Yeah, still in surgery."

"It's a common surgery," he says, as if he's trying to reassure her, and she doesn't quite understand why. It's sweet, though, the effort. "I'm sure she'll be out in no time and then it'll all be uphill from there."

She offers him a smile. "Thank you..."

"Rick."

The name clicks somewhere in her brain, puts a face to a name and makes her realize where she knows him from. Richard Castle, mystery writer. His face is plastered on the book jackets of all of the most worn in books she owns, the books her mother'd owned before her and took solace in.

"Kate," she returns, shaking his extended hand.

A nurse comes by, politely calling Rick over with information about his mother. He gives the nurse a nod before turning back to her, a soft smile playing on his lips.

"That's my cue," he says, moving to stand. "It was nice meeting you, Kate. I hope your daughter feels much better after this."

She thanks him and watches as he goes, follows the nurse down the corridor and disappears from sight. The tissues remain in her lap still, serve as something for her hands to fiddle with, something to keep her busy.

A few painstaking hours later, she's finally given some updates.

The surgery goes smoothly, no complications, and Annie's brought to her own room on the same floor. Kate glances at her daughter from the doorway, makes sure she's really and truly there, the rise and fall of the white sheet ensuring that she's breathing.

"Everything went as well as expected," the doctor informs, looking from Annie to Kate. "We were able to remove the appendix before it ruptured and she should have a full recovery in no time."

Kate nods, lets out the breath she's been holding since Annie went in. "And how long is 'no time', approximately?"

"Well, we'd like to keep her here for a day or two for observation," he says, and she can feel herself deflate. A day or two means her daughter's likely going to have to spend Christmas in the hospital. "Providing there are no infections or adverse side effects, she'll be discharged and instructed to be cautious. It'll be sore for a while, so rest is important."

She thanks him as he turns to leave, and her attention shifts to the girl now asleep in the bed behind her. Dragging the chair closer to the edge of the bed, she takes Annie's tiny hand in one of hers, her thumb brushing against the bone of her wrist.

She sits by her side for the next hour or so and only settles when she's told by a nurse that it's completely normal for Annie to be taking this long to wake up, that the anesthesia effects people differently and will likely linger longer because of her small size. After a while, she lets out a sigh, eyes darting down to the phone she's neglected all day.

She'd let her father know what was happening earlier, ensured him that he didn't need to drive down and that she'd let him know what happens. She'll tell Lanie and the boys later; all they know is that she'd had an emergency and didn't have the time to explain why exactly she needed them to cover for her.

Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, she contemplates calling Will.

A beat later, she releases the breath she'd been holding and decides that she should.

She takes one last look at her daughter and steps into the hallway, makes her way down towards the waiting area and leans her back against the wall as she dials the number she hasn't looked at in months.

"Will," she says by way of greeting. "I'm not that great actually. Annie's in the hospital. Appendicitis." There's a brief pause and then the answer she gets on the other line is _oh_. "Oh?"

Her blood begins to boil with everything he says, everything he _doesn't_ say.

"That's all you have to say? Your daughter is in the hospital, just underwent _surgery_ , Will, and it doesn't even sound like you care." He rattles off something about how of course he cares, but 'isn't that a really common surgery' and 'it's not like she broke a bone, Kate'. "No, she didn't break a bone. One of her organs almost _ruptured_. That could've—that could've _killed_ her and you..."

She has to pause then, a hiccup of a sob escaping at the thought. A ruptured appendix is a serious issue and can cause so many problems if left unattended, including death. It's so painful for her, what could've happened if she hadn't gotten her to the hospital in time, that she has to cover her mouth, compose herself for a few seconds.

It's Will's voice in her ear that breaks her from her thoughts. She doesn't hear the first thing he says, only catches the tail end of his sentence. "I really should get back to work," he says, and her fist balls at her side. "Tell her to feel better, will you?"

"You can tell her yourself. She'll be here for a day or two, at least," she says. "She'll be stuck here for Christmas, and I'm sure it'd be a nice surprise if you stopped by."

"I'm in the middle of this rough case, Kate, I can't—"

"Can't break away from your job for ten seconds to visit your daughter in the hospital?"

He sighs in her ear. "Don't say it like that..."

"How should I say it, Will? Annie's currently still under anesthesia, in a hospital bed, and you don't even want to _try_ to come see her."

"It's not like that. Listen, I have to go," he murmurs, the sounds of other officers chattering in the background floating into her ears. "I'm sorry, Kate."

She hangs up on him before she can hear any more of his excuses. He's never really been in Annie's life; she found out she was pregnant right before he left for Boston and even that wasn't enough to make him stay. He sends her a birthday card, a present here or there, but he rarely stops by.

She's not sure of the last time he even asked about their daughter without being prompted, the last time he seemed genuinely interested in any aspect of her life.

Kate's angry, sure as hell is she angry, but she thinks she's mostly sad. Sad for her daughter, the brilliant little girl in the room down the hall that deserves the world, deserves a father who cares for her and wants to be in her life.

Wiping hastily at her tears, she drops her head back against the wall, lets her eyes fall closed.

In the midst of her deep breathing, an attempt to calm herself before she heads back to Annie, she doesn't notice Richard Castle standing a few feet away, a pained expression painting his features after having heard the better part of her conversation.

* * *

 **A/N** : Also, apologies for any inaccuracies regarding appendicitis. All of my knowledge comes from a younger cousin's relayed experience and google.


	2. Chapter 2

Kate wakes to little fingers running through her hair and her eyes peel open, head slowly rising from its spot on the edge of Annie's hospital bed. When she looks up, she finds her daughter awake, staring at her with a small smile.

"Hi, baby," she murmurs, inching closer to brush the bangs from her face. "How long have you been awake?"

Annie shrugs. "Not long, Mommy. You looked tired so I let you sleep."

Oh, this kid.

"That's very sweet of you, Ann." She looks at her daughter, takes her face in her hand, her palm on her cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay."

"Does it hurt?" she asks, eyes trailing down to the spot where doctors had removed an organ from her child not 24 hours earlier. "They said it'll probably be sore for a little bit, so we'll have to be extra careful."

"A little," she admits as she leans her head back against the pillow. "When I try to move it hurts. Not like it did before."

"And it won't hurt like that again," she promises. "The bad parts were taken out and once you heal it'll feel all better."

Kate watches as her daughter nods, her eyes wandering the hospital room.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we go home yet?" Annie asks, eyes identical to her own staring back at her, hope floating in the irises and she really hates that she has to be the one to tell her daughter that she'll be here until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.

Kate sighs, pulls one of Annie's hands into her own. "No, sweetie," she says quietly, shaking her head. "The doctors need to keep you here for another day to make sure everything's okay."

It takes a few seconds, but she sees the moment Annie realizes what this means.

"But... it's Christmas Eve. Tomorrow's Christmas! We can't be here for Christmas!" Kate puts a hand on her blanketed knee, squeezes. "Santa won't know to bring the presents here! He'll bring them home but we won't be there and there'll be no presents!"

"Santa will find us, Ann," she promises. "He has a way of knowing where everyone is on Christmas."

Tears swimming in her eyes, Annie looks at her mother in disbelief. "How?"

"He's _Santa_ , silly." She bops her daughter on the nose, grinning at the small, watery smile it elicits. "That's his job, and he has a bunch of helpers."

"Like the elves?"

Kate nods. "Exactly like the elves. They don't just help make and wrap the toys for all of the children, you know. They keep track of where everyone is so they can let Santa know where to bring the presents."

"But what if they miss me?"

"They'd never miss you."

"How do you know?" she asks, so very concerned that Santa might skip over her because she's in the hospital, so hesitant that Kate needs to make sure this is her best Christmas yet, circumstances notwithstanding.

She leans forward, presses a kiss to Annie's temple. "Because you're far too special to miss."

Annie grins, lets out a small giggle that sets Kate's heart on fire. The thought of her little girl stuck here for Christmas is heartbreaking, and she wishes there was anything she could do. She'll bring a few of her presents here, of course, go grab them while Annie's asleep later so there's something to open. She can't bring them all, knows she won't be able to carry everything on her own and that there should be something under the tree when she gets home anyway.

There's not much to do in the hospital room, so Kate runs down to the gift shop to look for something they'd be able to entertain themselves with. She finds a stack of cards and not much else, but she buys them and brings them back to the room, figures they can play Go Fish.

Annie's sitting up when she gets back and she greets her with a smile.

"Look at you," she laughs, her grin widening when her daughter shoots her a proud look in return.

"Nurse Sam said I can sit up for a little bit as long as it doesn't start to hurt too much!"

"Did she now," Kate says. She holds up the bag hanging from her wrist. "I got something for us."

The girl looks on excitedly as she pulls out the stack of cards (and a candy bar, because it's Christmas Eve and she deserves it) and places it on the little tray table in front of Annie.

"What do you say to a game of Go Fish, m'lady?"

"I say you're going down, Mommy."

Kate huffs, let's out a low howl. "Ooh, we've got some confidence in our Go Fish abilities, do we now," she teases.

"Uh huh. Grandpa taught me all the tricks." There are really no tricks to Go Fish, but she chuckles at the thought of her father teaching his granddaughter the ins and outs of the game. "And Mac...Magician Rummy!"

She blinks, pursing her lips to conceal laughter. "Grandpa taught you how to play Michigan Rummy?"

"Yeah, that one! It's fun, we should play."

"Maybe later, bud," she says with a smile, patting the girl's shin. "I'll have to talk to Grandpa first."

She opens the deck of cards, deals them each the appropriate number, and the game begins. She doesn't figure out what the "tricks" are that her father's taught Annie, doesn't see anything different about the game at all, but the grins that take over her daughter's face make it seem as though she _thinks_ she's employing them.

Annie wins the first round, Kate the second and the third, and then Annie brings out the win for the fourth game and sets them at a tie.

"One more," Annie says, shoving the cards into the middle pile to be shuffled. "Can't stay tied, Mommy."

She chuckles. "You should nap first," she suggests instead, taking in her daughter's heavy lids, the way she fights to keep them open.

"'M not tired."

Kate gathers the cards and sticks them back in the box, ignoring Annie's whine in protest. "You're still recovering, baby, your body needs rest," she says quietly, removing the adjustable tray from the bed and sticking it back to the side. "Tell you what, you take a nap and let your body sleep off some of the medication, and when you wake up I'll let you open a present."

Truth is, she was going to let her open a present regardless—it is Christmas Eve after all, it's tradition, and she's grateful that she'd forgotten to take the one small present out of her bag from when she'd wrapped it at the precinct—but she really does need her rest, and she can tell by the slump of her shoulders and the drowsiness in her eyes that it'll do her good.

"There are presents _here?_ " Annie asks, perking up.

"Yup. I've got one in my bag for you to open, but nap first."

"Okay," she agrees on a nod, but then her face falls after a moment. "Mommy, your present is at home! You have to open one too!"

"It's okay, I can open my present when we get home."

"But we always open one together," she insists.

"I know," she nods, rubbing soothing circles on the girl's kneecap. "This year's just going to be a little different, that's all. I promise I'll open whatever present you want me to first when we get back home, okay?"

Little shoulders sag against the back of the bed, body deflated in disappointment, and Kate feels herself doing the same. She isn't worried much at all about opening her own presents, only cares that Annie can open hers like she always does, but she didn't know how important it was to the girl that they open one together on Christmas Eve.

This really does suck.

"Okay," the girl agrees eventually, letting out a sigh.

"Rest, Ann," Kate breathes, pushing a few rogue strands of hair behind her ears, her fingers lingering in her hair. "I'll be right here."

Once she's sure Annie's out cold, she stands from the spot in the chair she's rooted herself to, pulls the blankets up to her shoulders. It's now that she realizes she'd forgotten Squirt, Annie's stuffed sea turtle. Naturally, getting her wailing child out of the apartment and to the hospital was first priority; she wasn't really thinking about grabbing the girl's favorite stuffed animal along the way, but she feels bad now having forgotten it, knows the comfort she takes in it.

She carries him around the house (never outside, though Kate's sure she would if she wasn't so adamant that she's "too old to bring my stuffed animal everywhere, Mommy"), has ever since her Grandpa had given him to her for her birthday two years ago.

Casting one last look at her sleeping daughter, Kate moves from the room, takes a seat in one of the two chairs along the wall. She pulls her phone from her pocket, letting out a sigh as she reads over the missed text messages.

Dialing her best friend's number, she crosses her legs and holds the phone to her ear.

"What's going on?" is the greeting she gets, and she huffs a laugh.

"Hi, Lanie."

"Hello, now what's going on? You don't show up to the precinct and call a few hours later to inform the boys you need the day off? Which is fine, girl, we all know you could use a break, but no explanation?"

"Lanie," Kate interjects. "I'm in the hospital, and before you freak out—"

"Too late. _Hospital_? Which hospital? Are you okay? Is my little chica okay?"

"Annie had appendicitis, had to have emergency surgery, but she's already out. The surgery went well and she's resting right now."

There's a gasp on the other end. "Oh my poor girl," Lanie murmurs. "Is she getting the best treatment? I know someone down at the hospital and I can call—"

Kate chuckles. "She's getting very efficient treatment, I promise. I appreciate the offer though, we both do."

"Okay, girl. But if you need someone to fluff my favorite niece's pillows, I'd be happy," Lanie says, and Kate smiles to herself. "When is she getting discharged? You know I have a handful of presents for her to open, and I need to see her reaction to each one."

"You really need to stop spoiling her."

"But she's so easy to spoil!"

Kate laughs. "Believe me, I know," she says, because it's so terribly hard not to spoil her daughter whenever she gets the chance. She's not _spoiled_ , though. She has enough and she's one of the most grateful little girls she's ever known, and so Kate takes every opportunity to give her things that she wants when she can. "She has to stay the night, unfortunately."

"Aw, Christmas in the hospital?"

"Sadly," Kate sighs. "I'm going to head home once she's asleep for the night, bring a few presents for her to open tomorrow morning so it feels at least a _little_ like Christmas."

Lanie hums in agreement. "You could pop by here if you want to, give some variety to the presents."

"I thought you needed to see her reaction to each one?" she teases.

"I _do_ , but I can spare one present to cheer up my girl on Christmas," Lanie says, and Kate's smile widens. "Plus, I'll kick your skinny little butt if you don't record her reaction for me."

Laughter bubbling to the surface, Kate nods to herself. "Of course. I'll give you a call when I'm coming by then? Oh, and let the boys know? I wanna get back in by Annie."

"Sounds good. Will do, Kate. Give her a kiss for me," Lanie requests.

Kate promises to give Annie a hug and kiss on Lanie's behalf and then hangs up, stuffing her phone back into her pocket and leaning against the cushioned back of the chair. Oddly comfortable for a hospital chair.

The bustle of the hospital continues around her, doctors and nurses making their way to and from wherever it is they need to be, patients shuffling through the hallways in their gowns, family members of patients heading to and from a visit.

"Hey."

Turning, she finds the familiar face of Richard Castle standing a few feet away.

"Hi," she says, offering him a small smile. "How's your mom doing?"

"Oh it's as if it never happened. She's back to her usual theatrical self, more worried about missing a show and the _burden_ of hiding or decorating a cast."

Kate chuckles. "Sounds like a handful." Rick huffs as if to say _you have no idea_. "Is she an actress?"

He nods. "Stage actress. Mostly Broadway."

"That's incredible. I can't remember the last time I went to a show on Broadway," she muses out loud. "I was probably Annie's age."

"Oof, my mother would insist you head to a show immediately," he laughs, shaking his head. "Annie, that your daughter?" At her nod, he softens. "How is she?"

"She's doing... fairly well for a girl who's just had her appendix removed," she decides, sigh escaping her lips. "Not thrilled she'll be stuck here tonight, but I can't fault her for that."

"For Christmas? That's the worst for anyone, but especially a kid."

"I know. It'd be better if the room was a little festive, I think, but it's so white, so—so much like a hospital, that I just... I want it to feel like Christmas for her, you know?" She pauses, chuckling to herself. "I don't know why I'm telling you this, I'm sorry."

He shakes his head. "Don't be sorry," he insists. "I'm a good listener, and hey, I get it. What parent _doesn't_ want to make Christmas special for their kid?"

"Do you have kids?"

"Oh, no," he tells her. "My uh, my ex-wife wasn't really mother material. Couldn't have a baby ruining her 'actress figure'."

The disdain in his voice tells her that he really did (does?) want children, and she finds herself judging the woman he speaks of even though she shouldn't, even though she doesn't know her. She knows motherhood isn't for everyone, hell, she didn't think it was for her until she'd found out she was pregnant, but never for reasons so... shallow.

"I'm sorry," she says, unsure of what else to say to that.

"It's okay. As much as I'd love children, I'm glad it didn't happen with her." He pauses, then shakes his head. "Anyway, I was just about to get some coffee. I know you probably don't want to leave Annie, but could I get you some?"

The offer surprises her and her mouth opens, eyes widened.

"You don't have to do that," she says, tries to wave him off, but he's already shaking his head in response.

"I know, but I want to. I'm sure you haven't left this hospital since you brought her in, and I'm sure you could use it."

She worries her bottom lip between her teeth to bite back a smile. As much as she's thought about coffee since she's been in the hospital with Annie, she hasn't actually gotten any. Save for the quick trip to the gift shop downstairs to get the deck of cards she hasn't left her daughter, hasn't even stepped foot from the floor she's on. She really could go for coffee, even from the cafeteria.

"I—that would actually be really great," she agrees after a minute. "Thank you, really, and I'll pay you back."

"Nonsense. No payback necessary, Kate." Before she can protest further, he's already striding away, walking backwards away from her. "I'll be back in no time."

She relocates back into Annie's room a few minutes after he leaves, sits herself back into her chair. The girl's still asleep and Kate leans forward, caresses at Annie's forearm with her thumb. After a while, the touch seems to rouse her and her daughter's eyes begin to flutter until they're peeling back, focusing on her.

"Welcome back," she murmurs, rubbing her arm. "Feel better?"

Annie nods. "Mhm. Present now?"

Laughter slips from her mouth, genuine and unexpected. "Awake for 15 seconds and all you want is your present?"

"Pleeease, Mommy?" she adds, puppy dog eyes still filled with lingering sleep and a pout to accompany.

She can't say no to that face.

She bends down to pull her bag onto her lap, rummaging through it longer than necessary for dramatic effect. Out of the corner of her eye she can see Annie watching her, little body thrumming with so much anticipation and excitement that she can't leave her hanging for any longer. Grabbing the present from the bottom, she drops her bag back onto the floor next to the chair and passes over the wrapped object.

The light in her daughter's eyes brings a bright grin to her own face; this is always her favorite part, watching her unwrap her gifts. From small presents to large presents, Annie always takes her time despite her excitement level, always takes the extra few moments to really appreciate whatever it is.

The bow comes away first, followed by careful unraveling of the wrapping paper to reveal a tiny jewelry box. Little fingers wrap around the velvet, lift the top and Kate feels the love swell in her chest at the pure joy on Annie's face.

"Mommy, it's _beautiful_ ," she says, pulling the item from its box. It's a silver charm bracelet, two little heart charms attached, the smaller one with Annie's initials and the bigger one with hers. She has a matching one she'd bought for herself. "Can you put it on me?"

"Of course!" She loops it around the girl's wrist and closes the clasp. "It looks beautiful on you."

"Thank you, I love it!"

The sound of footsteps approach as Kate leans back into her chair.

"Sorry," she hears, turns to find the sheepish smile of Rick staring back at her, his balled fist poised at the door frame, the other arm balancing a brown bag and a carrier with three Starbucks drinks. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No, that's okay. Come in."

She hadn't planned on introducing him to Annie but she doesn't want to be rude, especially when he's just bought her coffee. She's cautious when it comes to her daughter, doesn't introduce people to her so easily and that still stands, but she almost feels as though she knows him. Knows him through his books, through the words he's written, the very same words that helped her in the time she needed solace most.

Kate turns to the girl sitting in the bed, whose curious eyes are trained on the man moving slowly into the room.

"Ann, this is Rick. He's... a friend," she finishes, unsure of how else to explain it. _A guy I met in the hallway yesterday morning while I was crying and who has now brought me coffee_ seems like a tad too long of a long title. "Rick, this is Annie."

"It's nice to meet you, Annie," he says, moving to Kate's side. "I hope you're feeling better."

Annie nods shyly. "Thank you."

He shoots her daughter a warm smile, then turns his attention to her. "And this is for you," he says, handing one of the coffees over to her. "I wasn't sure how you took it, so I took a guess and went with one of the holiday themed flavors."

"Thank you," she smiles, taking a sip, humming at the burst of flavor on her tongue. "Gingerbread?"

"Yeah. I was torn between gingerbread or peppermint, but I figured you can never really go wrong with a good gingerbread latte."

"Hm, you're right. You really can't."

He beams, his eyes impossibly blue right now. "Oh! And this is hot chocolate," he says, eyes darting from Annie to Kate. "I wasn't sure if there were any rules about what she can or can't have right now, but I just thought... all kids like hot chocolate right?"

Kate catches Annie's gaze, the surprise and joy swirling together in her bright eyes, and she smiles as she lifts her head once more. He bought hot chocolate for her kid. She saw the third cup and assumed it was for his mother. The thoughtfulness brings unwilling butterflies to her stomach.

"She was cleared earlier. That was really sweet of you, Rick, thank you." She turns to Annie just as he's handing over the hot beverage. "What do you say, baby?"

Annie grins, both hands wrapped around the colorful holiday cup. "Thank you, Rick!"

"You're _very_ welcome," he replies, leaning down to her while her daughter's preoccupied by her drink, stuffing the brown bag into her lap. "There are a few cookies in here, too."

Her mouth drops open. "Rick, you really—"

"I know. Wanted to. It's Christmas Eve, you guys are stuck here, and it's the little things, right?"

"The little things," she agrees on a soft smile.

"Well, I'll let you to get back to what you were doing. I should go make sure my mother hasn't scared away another nurse."

She laughs along with him, shaking her head. "Probably a good idea. Thank you again, really."

"My pleasure. Merry Christmas Eve, Kate, Annie."

"Merry Christmas Eve!" her daughter tosses back happily, and she does the same.

He gives a little wave and makes his exit, her eyes following him until he's out of sight, and then she turns back to Annie. Despite the pain she's sure she's still feeling, she's smiling, enjoying her hot chocolate. She's not wincing or crying, and that's all she could really ask for.

She just hopes she can keep that smile on her face, make her feel the Christmas spirit tomorrow morning.

* * *

 **A/N** : Thank you all so much for your kind words, they mean the world.


	3. Chapter 3

She manages to duck out of the hospital around midnight, long after Annie's fallen asleep. She stops home first, grabs a handful of gifts that she can stuff into a festive bag (some from her and some from Santa, of course) and a few small decorations. There's not too much in their apartment to begin with, but she steals a couple mini Christmas tree ornaments, a succulent covered in lights, and a couple little things to make the hospital room feel like the holiday.

Lanie's still awake, bless her, and she stops by her apartment on her way back to the hospital to pick up the present she wants Annie to open first. With a long hug and a quick goodbye, Kate returns to the hospital and puts the presents in the corner, surrounded by the decorations she's managed to carry.

With one last glance at her daughter, eyelids fluttering as she dreams, Kate tucks herself back into her chair, pulls the blanket a nurse had given to her over her body, and lets herself fall asleep.

"Mommy!"

She's pulled awake by Annie's voice, blinking away the remnants of fatigue as she moves to drop the blanket into her lap and sit herself up.

"Morning, baby," she murmurs, rubbing at her cheeks, a smile on her face for her daughter regardless. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas!" Annie says, excitement and a squeal in her voice. " _Look!_ "

Finally jolting into awareness, Kate trails her gaze from Annie to their surroundings, and _oh_. Her mouth falls open, shock and awe etched into each line of her face as she registers what's going on.

The room is filled with holiday decorations, and it's far more than the few trinkets she'd managed to bring herself. There's a small Christmas tree in the corner (it's one of those mini fake pine trees, but it's _beautiful_ ), covered in decorative ornaments, lights, tinsel, the whole nine yards, complete with a bright star on top. A row of three stockings sit against one of the walls, and to her surprise there's writing on the white tops: Santa, Annie, and Kate.

A different stack of a few presents sits beneath the lit tree beside hers now, presents she most certainly didn't provide. That's not her wrapping paper, those aren't her gifts, but she finds herself standing, circling the room, and sure enough there are names on the presents. Their names.

Her hands fly to her mouth, tears filling her eyes because _how_. More importantly, maybe, _who?_

There's some more tinsel and lots of glitter (getting that off of everything is going to be fun). A small wreath on the back of Annie's hospital door. Fake snow on the table tops. Just so many little things brought together to make it really feel like Christmas, and hell, it does.

"Mommy, it's Christmas!" Annie yells, the widest smile on her face Kate's seen since she's arrived in the hospital. "And Santa came! He knew where to find us, just like you said!"

Kate moves to the side of the bed, presses a kiss to Annie's temple and wraps her arms around her. "Of course he did," she chuckles. "I told you he wouldn't miss you, bud."

"You were right," she agrees, releasing one arm but keeping the other wrapped around her mother's shoulder, leaning her head to knock into hers. "Santa even decorated the room for us while we were asleep!"

"Yeah," she breathes, gaze trailing over everything once more. "That was very nice of him, wasn't it? We'll have to leave him extra cookies next year."

Annie gasps, pulls back with the most horrified look on her face. "The cookies! We forgot to leave cookies and milk!"

"Hey, it's okay," Kate soothes, smoothing a hand over her daughter's hair. "I'll bet he didn't even miss them. Santa gets _so_ many cookies from every house, Ann, I'm sure he was very grateful for the short break."

The girl doesn't seem all that convinced but gives a nod. "We'll leave twice the amount of cookies next year though, right?"

Kate laughs. "Absolutely. We can even leave a mix of different cookies," she promises. "Now, what do you say you open some presents, huh?"

She grabs an armful of the gifts from beneath the tree, the ones she knows that she brought and a few of the mystery gifts, and deposits them at the end of Annie's bed. She doesn't have full range of movement yet, but she's starting to be able to shift without too much pain, and so she's able to sit up and reach for a few of them to put in her lap.

Annie grabs an oddly shaped, soft present first, one whose contents she knows.

"He's so cute!" her daughter gushes, squishing the stuffed pug to her chest before pulling it away, staring at it with a smile. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome, sweetheart. What are you gonna name him?"

She knows she's been wanting an actual pug for about a year now, but with her job and the apartment they're currently living in it's just not possible. There'd be no one to take care of it and it'd have no room to run around outside, but this pug comes with no responsibilities.

Annie holds the pug out in front of her, examining it with her tongue poking from between her teeth. "Ollie!"

"Ollie it is," Kate smiles, watching as the pug is tucked securely beneath the blankets.

She goes through the rest of the presents from her mom, Santa, and Lanie, collecting a nice array of new clothes, a few dolls, a coloring book, and a handful of books that she's been wanting. The main gift was left at home to be opened and announced later tonight.

"Look how many Santa left here," Annie says, left now with the gifts mysteriously left in the room overnight.

Kate nods, taking a seat at the edge of the bed to get closer. "He knows just how good you were this year," she says, heart swelling at the wide grin that takes over her daughter's face. "Open it."

While Annie works on opening one of the gifts, Kate's eyes catch sight of a small slip of paper, almost hidden underneath all of the fake snow on the bedside table. She grabs it, blowing off the excess flakes that come with it.

 _Happy Holidays!_

 _May the joy of Christmas be with you everywhere and always_

The edges of her mouth twitch upwards, a finger coming up to brush against her lip. It's a sweet note, the entire gesture so unbelievably sweet, but it's not signed and it drives her crazy.

"It's a pen pal kit!" Annie's voice brings her back, has her twisting to look at what her daughter's holding. "And stickers! I get to have a pen pal, Mommy, how cool is that!"

It's a small box, bright neon colors all over, with a handful of stickers, colored envelopes, stationary paper, and pens, perfect for a little girl who loves to write.

"That's so cool," she grins, balling up the wrapping paper to toss. "We'll just have to find you a pen pal now, Ann."

Annie nods enthusiastically, putting the kit to her side and grabbing at the other present. Out of the corner of her eye she sees a nurse in the hallway, leaning against the nurse's station and smiling as she peeks into the door.

"I'll be right back, baby," she says, patting Annie's knee as she stands, heads into the hall.

The nurse is still smiling but she's averted her gaze, gone back to whatever file it is that's in her hands. Kate walks up beside her, leaning her elbow against the same desk as she moves in closer.

"Do you know who did this?" she asks, and the nurse raises her head, looks at her with a smile but doesn't respond. "You do, don't you?"

The woman nods. "I might, but I've also been sworn to secrecy."

Kate sighs. "I just... I'd like to thank them, you know?" Which isn't a lie—she _does_ want to thank them, she just also really wants to know who did it. She knows it surely wasn't Santa.

"I can't tell you a name," the nurse starts, glancing towards Annie and then back. "But I _will_ tell you that this person went through a lot of effort trying to put all of those decorations up quietly."

At the end of the sentence her voice trails off, her eyes lift and settle on something behind Kate and a small smirk plays across her lips. Kate twists, follows the nurse's gaze to find Richard Castle standing at the other end of the hall, 100 feet away with yet another carrier of drinks in his hand and a sheepish smile on his face.

Her eyes widen, mouth open as she turns around fully and starts making her way towards him.

"It was you?"

His shoulders hike up to his chin, a crooked, hesitant smile on his face. "Merry Christmas?"

"I—how? _Why?_ "

"I got a few of the night nurses to help me," he admits, tossing a small wave back to the woman she'd been talking to before he showed up. "I have... a lot of decorations in my apartment, more than one man needs, so I grabbed a few—" She makes a noise of amused disbelief, because what's going on in that room is _not_ 'a few'. "—and waited until I figured you'd both be asleep."

It must've been early in the morning, anywhere between two and five, she figures. She's—stunned.

"I'm not a heavy sleeper," she comments, her mouth pulled to the side. "I don't understand how I didn't wake up."

"You shifted a few times, made some noises and I thought you were waking up, so I'd kind of just drop quietly to the floor and freeze."

The thought of him tossing himself to the floor every time she made the slightest shifting in the chair is hilarious, pulls a laugh from her.

"Very stealthy," she muses. "But that doesn't—I mean, why?"

His weight shifts from one foot to the other and he pauses, looks from the ground and back to her with a deep breath. "You wouldn't believe me if I said it was in the Christmas spirit?"

"I might, but..." She trails off, watches as he licks his lips, gives a small nod for her to finish. "If I'm being honest, I'm confused. I—I've seen you on Page Six," she admits with a dip of her head. "And the guy I've seen in those magazines... playboy, parties every night, womanizer... that's not the same guy that I met here a few days ago, the guy who gave me tissues and asks how my kid's doing, who brought us coffee and hot chocolate, who—who did _this_."

He's quiet for a minute and she continues. "I'm sorry, I know that's judgmental, I—"

"No," he cuts her off, his voice soft. "You have every right to think that. That _is_ who I am in the papers. And I was that guy for a while, longer than I'd like to admit, and sure it was an exciting life... but I'm not in my 20's anymore. It's been a while since that's been my reality, but as my publicist says, any publicity is good publicity, right? So it's just..."

"A persona?"

He nods. "Essentially, yeah," he sighs. "It'll blow over, but it's nice, when I meet people, for them to see that I'm not that guy, you know? That I'm just... Rick Castle. Ex-playboy, sure, but current average guy, too."

She chuckles. "I'd say you're a little more than average, but I get it. If it's any consolation, it's a welcome surprise, this different side of you that's not portrayed in the media." Rick smiles, offers her a nod in thanks. "Now that that's settled... care to tell me why you really did this?"

"Ah, okay. I uh, _kind_ of heard you on the phone the other day. With Annie's father," he says, and it feels almost as if the wind's been knocked out of her. Her lips purse together, cheeks flaming a hot pink. "I wasn't trying to listen, I swear, I just—I was standing there already waiting to hear about my mother, and I heard you, and I couldn't believe that he didn't seem to care that his daughter was having surgery. And that was awful in itself, because I've only briefly met her but she seems like a great kid, but then you said she'd be stuck here for Christmas too. I don't know, I just—I wanted to do something, make sure she, and you too, had a nice Christmas. I figured what's a few decorations, right? I had them and..."

He finally takes a break and she's too stunned to speak, can only stare at him, but he must mistake her silence for anger or distaste because he almost looks _nervous_ , his voice rushed as he continues.

"I know it wasn't my place to do any of this, that you can make Christmas special for her all on your own and I've only known you for like two days but—"

"Rick," she says finally, cutting off his rant, waiting until he meets her gaze. "I'm not—I'm upset you heard that, yeah, but I'm not mad at you. How could I be mad when you did all of this, despite the fact that you barely know us? That's... I have no words."

"You don't have to say anything," he says. "I didn't do it to get anything in return; I didn't even want you to know it was me, but..."

But the nurse kind of gave him up with that look, yeah. Not exactly the most subtle, that one.

"I do have to say something." Before he can voice the protest she knows is seconds away, she stretches on her tiptoes and presses a chaste kiss to his cheek. "Thank you."

"It was—"

"Don't say it was nothing," she says. "Really, _thank you_. The way her face lit up when she saw it all, the pure joy in her eyes, it was everything I'd hoped for this morning."

He gives her a dopey grin, his eyes crinkling around the corners. "I'm glad it helped," he says. He seems to realize he's still holding drinks and looks down. "Oh! This is for you guys."

"You brought us Starbucks again?" she asks on a laugh, her head cocked to the side. "I think you've done enough, don't you?"

Shrugging, he puts the coffee in her hand anyway. "The cafeteria coffee is shit, Kate. It'd be a sin to make you drink that."

"And Annie?" she asks, a smirk on her face.

"You can't leave someone out, now, that's rude," he says, and she nods, biting the inside of her cheek.

"How's your mom doing?"

"Oh, no, Mother was discharged yesterday. She's already living it up again."

She doesn't allow herself to focus on the fact that his mother, the reason he was in the hospital and met her in the first place, was discharged yesterday, meaning that he came back of his own accord when he didn't have to just to set up this Christmas display in her daughter's room.

"Oh good, I'm glad she's feeling better," she manages.

"When does Annie get discharged?"

"Should be sometime around 3:00, thankfully," Kate says, blowing out a breath. "Not too much longer."

Rick nods in agreement. "That's good. She won't be cooped up for too long," he comments. "Well, you should get back to her."

"Yeah, she's opening some of the other gifts, which you _really_ didn't need to put there," she says, giving him a pointed look to which he just shrugs innocently. "I should probably bring her this very delicious, and generous, hot chocolate as well."

"Please do." He hands over the tray, tossing his own finished coffee into the trash bin. She goes to turn, but he calls out. "Kate. Do you think we could see each other again?"

Worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, she looks at him. He's sweet (he's also her favorite author but that's besides the point), he's proven to be a complete contrast to the playboy that's frequently portrayed on Page Six, and he took the time to decorate Annie's hospital room just so it'd feel more like Christmas.

She can't even think about a relationship right now, not with Annie recovering and her whirlwind of a job and the mess she still considers herself to be at most times, but she does think he could be a friend. Maybe even a good one.

"I'd like that," she says, her smile widening in time with his. "I'll give you my number?"

They exchange numbers and he bids her farewell, tells her to get back to her daughter, and she wanders back into Annie's room with a grin on her face to find her kid sat in a pile of chocolate and stuffed animals.

"You made out like a bandit, Ann," she laughs, picking at one of the chocolates.

Annie laughs, smiles up at her mother. "It's really good! The stuffed animals are so cute," she says, all four of them huddled to either side of her. "What's that?"

"Hot chocolate," she says, chuckling at her daughter's reaction. "Rick dropped it off."

She watches as Annie pauses, cocks her little head to the side and gives her a look, a mixture of pensive and thoughtful. Far too mature for her age, far too reminiscent of herself.

"Rick's nice," she says, then takes the hot chocolate and that's it.

Kate shakes her head, sitting at the edge of the bed to ruffle Annie's hair, brush the bangs away from her face. "Yeah, he is."

Hours later, after Annie's discharged and she manages to haul all of the Christmas things into bags, they make it back to their apartment. Annie can walk, though she has to do so slowly, and there are still some pains if she twists a wrong way. The doctor said that her age will aid her, because she's so young and healthy, but that she'd likely feel it for a few days. After at least a week, he said, she should begin getting back to her normal activities, but until then to not do anything strenuous.

She sits her daughter on the couch and sets out the rest of the presents she'd left home. She rips through them, thanking her at every turn, and the last one is the one she's been waiting for. A pang of disappointment hits her when she realizes Annie won't be able to use them right away, won't be able to start until she's healed enough, but she knows it'll be worth it.

"Here, last one," she says, handing her a festively wrapped box. "Go ahead."

Annie unwraps it to find a pair of little white skates. She gasps, wide eyes darting to Kate. "Mommy? Really?"

Kate grins, nodding. "Yup. You'll be starting lessons as soon as you can," she says, catching her daughter's forceful (as forceful as she can, really) embrace, thin arms wrapping around her neck.

"Will it be by myself? Do I get a partner? _Oh_ , can we get those dresses?" Annie asks, pulling back, excitement written all over her face.

She laughs. "One step at a time, baby girl. We'll see how your lessons go, okay? But yes, we'll get you an outfit soon."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Annie's been wanting to take skating classes for a while now, begging her to let her start, but the time was never right. She didn't have the extra money or time to take her to morning lessons, but she'd finally scraped together the cash with overtime hours (very reminiscent of her early days on the job, she'd found) and there are classes that start not too long after Annie's out of school.

Her daughter crashes on the couch after a while, little body exhausted with all the excitement of the day. She doesn't want to jostle her so she lets her sleep, just pulls a blanket over her and whispers a kiss to her forehead.

As she's cleaning up the remains of the presents, she finds herself gravitating towards the stockings from the hospital room, from Rick. Her fingers follow the path the fabric paint had taken when writing their names, the block letters uneven but done with care.

Stocking clutched between her fingers, eyes trailing to her sleeping daughter in the other room, a soft smile tugs at the corners of her lips.

Merry Christmas, indeed.

* * *

 **A/N** : Thank you all for your continued support, it means so much. I do apologize that I haven't managed to reply to you all individually as I normally do my best to; it's been rough with the current state of things and I haven't been in the best place, but please know I appreciate every single review.

Also, props to all of you who saw this coming - because I'm predictable (oops), but also because it was that prompt that sparked this idea.


	4. Chapter 4

Walking into the living room a few days later, Kate finds her daughter propped up on the couch, blanket covering the lower half of her body and the television on.

"Morning, baby," she says, rounding the coffee table to give Annie a kiss. She squeezes her shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"Good. It doesn't hurt to walk as much."

"That's great to hear," she smiles, making her way into the kitchen. "Have you eaten yet?" At the shake of her daughter's head, she rummages around in the fridge and the cupboards. "Pancakes? Waffles? Cereal?"

Annie hums, looking up as she thinks. "Waffles?"

"Coming right up."

Kate makes quick work of whipping up a some waffles for the both of them. She grabs a few different fruits from the fridge, tosses some strawberries and blueberries into a bowl.

She's about to bring the waffles into the living room when Annie gets up, trails slowly to the kitchen table to sit down.

"You can eat on the couch, Ann. You should be resting."

"I can walk now, Mommy." When Kate gives her a pointed look, her daughter raises her head. "Waffles please."

"Right here, kid," she says with a shake of her head, sliding the plate in front of her. The strawberries disappear in a matter of 60 seconds and Kate laughs. "Slow down, don't choke." She passes a glass of orange juice. "You'd think I wasn't feeding you."

"You didn't feed me the other day," Annie says, not looking up from her food.

Kate huffs. "The hospital did."

"Gross," her daughter retorts, scrunching her nose. "The meatloaf didn't look like meat."

Chuckling, she ruffles Annie's hair. "Eat your waffles."

She starts cleaning the kitchen, washing the dishes that have been piled up for a few days, putting the waffle mix back into the cupboard and wiping down the counter to rid it of any leftover powder. Finally finished, she sits beside Annie to eat her own, plucking a few strawberries from the top of her waffles to pop into her mouth.

"Do you want any more?" Annie shakes her head. "Okay. What do you want to do today?"

"Don't you have work?" her daughter asks, quirking a brow in her direction.

Kate hums. "Nope."

Her girl's eyes widen, a mix of joy and hesitation. "You don't have to skip work, Mommy. I'm okay, I can walk. I can stay with Grandpa so you can go."

She wraps an arm around her shoulder. "Hey, I'm staying because I want to, okay? I still have a few vacation days saved up, so I figured this was the perfect time to use them."

The look of uncertainty that still lingers on her face has Kate's heart breaking. Annie knows how important her job is to her mother, how much Kate loves it, and she loves it too, loves telling her friends that her mom fights bad guys for a living. She also knows how much she hates calling out.

But this is different; she wants to make sure her daughter knows that she comes first, always. She loves her job, but she loves Annie more.

"I'd choose you over work any day, you know that right?" she asks, skimming her palm over her daughter's forehead. "You're the most important thing in my life."

That gets a small smile. "I know."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"You really sure?" she repeats, moving to dramatically pepper kisses all over her face, just enough to make her squirm, to break the laughter she loves so much from her chest.

"I'm sure," Annie manages between giggles, sliding halfway off the stool to get away from her mother's assault. "I'm sure, I'm sure!"

Kate laughs, pulls her into her side once she's escaped. "Good," she says, kissing the crown of her head. "Never forget that."

"Mommy?" Kate hums in response, turning to look down. "Why doesn't my dad feel the same way?"

Annie's voice is quiet, her eyes now averted, head bowed.

Kate sighs, wishing she didn't have to do this, wishing so badly that Will cared enough to give their daughter at least some of his time. He's not a bad person, he's just—he's like her, work-oriented, puts his job first no matter what else is in his life. But, unlike her, he didn't change (or see a reason _to_ change) when Annie was born.

Kate knew she had to focus on the life they'd created, focus on her well-being, and that meant she had to put her mother's case onto the back burner and put their little girl first. It's been seven years and Will still hasn't reached that place yet, still prioritizes work over anyone else, his daughter included.

"Hey, look at me," she murmurs, using her index finger to tip Annie's chin, and waits until her daughter meets her eyes once more. "Your dad loves you."

Though he doesn't show it well (or at all), she knows Will loves their daughter. That's the sole reason she's kept trying to keep his connection with Annie going, as best as she can, and hasn't called it quits. After this, though—not even bothering to visit her in the hospital, not calling after the fact to see how she's doing—she's done putting forth all the effort.

If he reaches out, good. She won't stop him from seeing Annie. But if he doesn't, so be it. Her daughter doesn't need him walking in and out of her life as he pleases, making appearances once a year for 30 minutes during his lunch break.

"I know," Annie says, pursing her lips. "He has to love me, he's my dad. But I don't think he likes me very much."

Kate sighs. "Oh, baby. That's not true. He's just... bad at showing how he feels." She hates Will in this moment, hates him for making her explain. "But he loves you so much."

"Did I do something?"

"No." Her voice is firm, her grip on Annie's shoulder tight. "You've done _nothing_ wrong, okay? You're perfect just the way you are, and there's nothing you could possibly do differently. He has his own issues, baby, but it has nothing to do with you. Do you understand?"

Annie gives a small nod. "I understand."

"Good," she says, wrapping her arms around her daughter and pulling her closer, resting her chin on her shoulder. "Now. Go pick out a movie for us to watch. We're gonna make a fort, marathon movies, and I'm _pretty_ sure Uncle Kevin and Uncle Javi said they were going to stop by later to see their favorite niece."

That gets a smile from the girl in her arms, a bright eye'd look. "Really?!"

"Would I lie about that?" she chuckles, and Annie shakes her head. "Then we'd better get started. We want to be able to show them our fort when they get here, make them _super_ jealous."

"Yes!"

And like that, her daughter's off, wriggled from her embrace and sliding into the living room to sift through their pile of DVDs. Kate has an idea of what she's going to choose but she watches on as Annie's tongue peeks out between her teeth in concentration.

She follows behind after a few minutes, takes a seat on the couch and watches Annie setting out a row of movies in front of her.

"Choose one?"

Her daughter nods. "How many can we watch?" she asks, looking over her shoulder.

"As many as we can fit in before the boys get here, and then we can watch a few more before you go to bed, how does that sound?"

"Okay," Annie agrees. She stands carefully, handing the DVD to her mother. " _Elf_ first."

A smirk plays on her lips; she knew this was going to be it. They watch _Elf_ every year, usually on Christmas Eve, but they haven't had the chance to watch it yet given the circumstances.

" _Elf_ it is."

She puts the DVD in and lets it sit on the home screen while she heads to the linen closet to grab an armful of blankets and pillows for their fort. The couch cushions are taken off, placed strategically to create three walls for them. A few of the heavier comforters go down next, and the two of them work together to squish them into the fort, followed by an overflow of pillows.

"Grab that end," she tells her daughter, nodding towards the corner of a sheet. "We'll put it on as the roof."

After securing the roof, they stand back to admire their work. The inside looks pretty comfortable, she must say, with the fluffy blankets cushioning where they'll be laying.

"Perfect," Annie beams.

Kate grins, running her hand over the girl's head. "Yeah, it is. Go, get in—carefully—and I'll start the movie."

She stands in front of the television until Annie's settled, her small body cocooned by the fort and its blankets, before she hits play. She joins her then, crawling through the front opening and resting her back on one of the pillows to Annie's right.

They laugh through _Elf_ , the both of them reciting some lines. Certain parts had been memorized long ago and now it's a fun game to see who remembers more.

Next on the agenda is _Unaccompanied Minors,_ a scenario that Kate finds horrifying should it come to life outside of the movie. She's not sure what she'd be less able to handle: being the poor soul in charge of the hoard of uncontrollable minors running around the airport, or having to relinquish Annie into the care of airport security if for some reason she had to stay behind.

In reality she knows it'd be entrusting her daughter with strangers, but the thought of trying to wrangle 20+ out of control kids is also extremely undesirable.

"Would you let me fly by myself?" Annie asks, turning her head slightly.

Kate hums. "I guess if I absolutely _had_ to, but I'd definitely be too worried." Her daughter nods. "Why, you planning a cross country trip without me?"

Annie giggles. " _No_."

"Good. I'd miss you too much," she says, pressing a kiss to her head.

Annie wiggles over to rest her head on Kate's chest, one of her hands fisted in the blanket covering her body. The corners of her lips quirk upwards as her hands move into Annie's hair, fingers running soothingly through the strands.

* * *

They make it through the rest of _Unaccompanied Minors_ and half of _Home Alone_ before there's a knock at the front door.

Kate moves from the fort and towards the door, Annie hot on her heels. Ryan and Esposito stand on the other side, smiles on their faces and little boxes wrapped in decorative print in their hands. She chuckles, shaking her head.

"I said you didn't have to get anything," she tells them, but they wave her off, scoffing. "Ann, look who's—"

Her daughter's already behind her, moving as quickly as she dares to in order to get to the boys. Her little arms wrap around Ryan's middle first and he laughs, returns the hug gently and offers her a wide smile in return.

"There's my favorite Beckett," he says. Annie beams and he shoots a wink at Kate.

She moves onto Espo next, giving him the same enthusiastic hug that she'd given Ryan, and he locks his arms around her back.

"How you feelin', Baby Beckett?"

Annie nods. "Better. The doctor said I should be back to doing normal things in a week, and tomorrow's a week!"

"You'll be back to taking the world by storm in no time," Espo says, holding his fist out for her daughter to bump.

Kate looks on with her arms crossed over her chest, a soft smile on her face. The relationship Annie has with two of her best friends warms her heart. They've been there for her from the second she told them she was pregnant and stood by her after her daughter was born, the two of them often fighting over who got to hold the infant first.

She wouldn't trade the support system she has in them for anything.

"Let's let the boys take their coats off, huh?" she says, and Annie backs away, shuffling into the kitchen. "Where you going?"

"Getting them a drink, Mommy!" Annie calls back, already rummaging through the fridge for the water pitcher.

She laughs, waving for the two of them to follow her to the counter.

"You can put the gifts you weren't supposed to buy up here."

"You didn't really expect us to come empty handed, did you?" Ryan says.

Esposito nods his assent. "Really, Beckett, expecting us not to buy a Christmas present for Annie. You should know better."

Ryan pats her on the shoulder as they walk past, taking their seats on the stools just in time for Annie to walk over holding two very-full glasses of water. She moves slowly, eyes glued to the glasses watching for any sign of spilling, and Kate can't help but grin.

"We have something for you, Ann," Espo says.

Annie's eyes light up, and she looks from the boys to her mother, who nods.

Ryan nods in agreement. "These two. Go ahead, open them."

She picks Ryan's first, opening the small rectangular box after carefully removing the bow from the top. Inside sits a silver necklace with Annie's name spelled out, the cursive letters looping beautifully and connecting to the chain.

"Ryan..."

"Jenny picked it out," he says before she can protest, say that it's too much because it _is_ too much. "She had one just like it as a little girl and insisted that this would be perfect."

"It's so pretty," Annie gasps, picking it up and bringing it over to Kate. "Isn't it pretty?"

"It's beautiful, baby. Do you want me to put it on?" Annie nods and Kate plucks it from her little fingers, motions for her to turn around so she can lay it across her neck and clasp the back. "There you go."

"Thanks!" She moves to Ryan next, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Uncle Ryan! Tell Aunt Jenny I said thank you too, please."

"Of course, Ann."

She moves back behind the counter and grabs Esposito's next, unwrapping to reveal two long strips of paper that Kate can't decipher from where she's standing.

"Really?!" Annie squeaks, eyes immediately darting to Espo, who grins at the girl and nods.

"Of course really," he laughs. "I wouldn't put those in there to mess with you, kid."

Her daughter moves around the corner and squeezes Esposito as hard as she can. "Thank you, thank you," she smiles, turning to her very intrigued mother. "Mommy, look!"

She thrusts the present at her, and she realizes now that they're two tickets to the grand opening of the new History Museum that's being revealed upstate. It's a trek, but both she and Annie have been talking about it since they found out it was coming. She's always been interested in history, in the different time periods and eras. It's something that seems to surprise most people, but it seems that interest has passed down to Annie. Ever since her class started to learn about Ancient Egypt and the pyramids Annie's been obsessed, even asked to go as Cleopatra for Halloween.

It just so happens that the new museum will have a hands-on exhibit on Egypt. She's not sure what it'll be, exactly, but Annie's bound to love it.

"Espo, this is..." she pauses, shaking her head. "Thank you." Kate moves between her two friends, wraps an arm around both of them. "Both of you, thank you guys."

"Don't mention it," Espo says. "Now, what's this I hear about a movie marathon?"

* * *

The boys stay for one movie ( _Shrek_ , at Annie's insistence after learning that Ryan had never seen it) before they head out, leaving the two of them cuddled in the fort once more. They make it through a few more before she feels Annie's weight listing heavily against her side. Looking over, she can see the girl's eyes falling closed despite her attempts to keep them open.

"I think it's time for bed, miss," she says, gently squeezing her daughter's shoulder. Annie makes a noise of dissent and Kate laughs. "Come on, we can finish the movie tomorrow."

The girl shakes her head, burrows her face deeper into Kate's shirt. "No."

"Annie..."

"Few more minutes."

"It was a few more minutes five minutes ago," she says, laughing at the groan that emits from Annie's throat. "You have to get into your pajamas and brush your teeth. You don't want to wake up with awful breath, do you?"

There's a mumble. "No."

"I didn't think so."

Kate sits up, thereby removing Annie from her spot, and crawls out of the fort. Annie sighs but follows after a minute or two, allowing her mother to hold her weight as she leads her down the hall and into the bathroom. She brushes her teeth and gets changed, barely protesting anymore as she's tucked into bed.

"Goodnight, baby. I love you."

"Love you too, Mommy."

Kate closes the door behind her and heads back into the living room to deconstruct their fort; the couch is put together once more, cushions back in their rightful place, and she shoves the blankets back into the linen closet where they belong.

Around 10:30, just as she's settling into her bed and ready to grab a book, her phone rings. She doesn't recognize the number but it's a New York area code. She'd normally let it go to voicemail or ignore it, but for some reason she decides to answer.

"Hello?" she says, stifling a yawn.

There's a brief silence and then, "Kate, hi," the voice says, and her heart jumps at the familiarity of it. "It's uh, it's Rick. From the hospital. I hope it's not too late."

"No, it's fine. Hi."

She's been so wrapped up in Annie's post-surgery state and making sure that she's recovering how she should be that she hasn't even had a chance to really register the fact that though she'd given Rick her number, he hadn't called.

Not until now, of course.

"Hi," he repeats, and she chuckles. "How are you?"

"I'm alright, how are you? How's your mother doing?"

He laughs. "I'm good, and she's doing really well, thanks. Already back on stage with that colorful brace of hers."

"Oh good, I'm glad she seems to be recovering nicely."

"How's Annie doing?" he asks after a few seconds, his voice low. "I wanted to call sooner, but I thought—I figured I'd give you a few days to settle in with her after the surgery, to make sure she's doing okay."

The thoughtfulness brings a smile to her face, has her worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

Settling deeper into her mattress, she gets comfortable. "She's doing great, actually," she says, and she can hear the grin in his voice when he says _I'm so glad_. "It's almost been a week, so she's healing and able to move around more."

"I remember how uncomfortable it was the first few days for me," he tells her. "After about a week or so, it stopped pulling and I was able to get back to doing some of my normal activities. Hopefully that's how it's going for her."

"It seems to be," she nods. "She's been a real trooper through all of it."

His voice is warm in her ear. "She seems like a great kid, strong. With you as her mother, though, I'm not surprised."

She's glad he can't see the slight blush that creeps onto her skin at the compliment. It's ridiculous, really, because he barely knows her at all, and yet the words flow from his mouth sounding as genuine as they possibly can.

"Thank you," she breathes. "That's sweet. I got lucky with her."

The conversation turns and he tells her a little about himself, his mother (and wild stories that contributed to what she can only describe as what seems to have been a very... _interesting_ childhood), and his writing. He tells her about how the newest book is coming along and she keeps her cool, doesn't let on just how much of an effect these very characters and his words have had on her and her life.

She doesn't divulge much of anything too personal, but she does tell him about Annie's favorite hobbies, her interest in history and excitement over taking up ice skating. She tells him how all it really takes to entertain her is a good book and laughs when he spends the next ten minutes trying to wheedle information out of her.

Does she use his books to entertain herself? Is she a fan? How _much_ of a fan?

Before she knows it, they've been on the phone for two hours and she's curled into her pillows with the phone trapped between her shoulder and ear.

"I didn't realize what time it was," he says, laughing a little on the other end. "You must be tired."

She hums. "A little," she admits.

"You should get some sleep."

His voice is soft, soothing. "Yeah, probably. This was... it was nice."

"It was," he agrees. "I don't know if you have plans, but I was wondering if you would want to meet me for coffee tomorrow? Annie's more than welcome, of course. I know this little coffee shop not too far that has incredible pastries and hot chocolate."

Kate chews the inside of her cheek. "That sounds nice," she says after a moment. Friends get coffee together, right? "And any hot chocolate with mini marshmallows will be a hit with my kid."

"I'll bring some with me, just in case," he says, and her heart beats harshly against her ribs. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Tomorrow," she echoes.

* * *

 **A/N:** You've all been so incredibly sweet, thank you.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning she wakes early, slips from her bed and pads into the kitchen to start the coffee. Leaning against the counter, she revels in the warmth the mug provides to her chilled fingers.

Once she finishes her first cup she puts it to the side, reasons she can have a second after she's dressed and ready.

She stands in front of her closet with a hand on her hip, lips pursed as she surveys all possible options. Pulling out a few sweaters, she tosses them onto her bed and moves to her dresser to grab a pair of jeans. Dark wash, the pair she knows she looks good in.

It's ridiculous that she's even taking this much time to choose an outfit. It's coffee, and it's not a date. It's coffee with Richard Castle, but Annie will be there too, so again, this is _ridiculous_. Even more ridiculous is that she keeps thinking of him as Richard Castle; that's lessened since last night, the phone call that lasted much longer than she'd have ever thought, but it's still there in the back of her mind.

But the truth is, he's not only Richard Castle to her; no, now he's Rick, the sweet man who made Christmas special for her daughter in the hospital, who didn't have to bring her coffee or Annie hot chocolate but did anyway because he wanted to, the man whose voice soothes her in a way she can't—and won't let herself—think about.

Blowing out a deep breath she chuckles to herself. He's Rick, just Rick, and with that thought she quickly chooses the first sweater that catches her eye and throws it on.

A royal purple color, perfectly paired with her jeans.

Her makeup comes next (nothing fancy, just a natural look with a little more mascara than she'd normally wear), followed by hair, which she curls in the same way she would for work.

It comes together, and once satisfied with her appearance she returns to the kitchen, allows herself that coffee.

Annie wakes around 10:30 and she hears the shuffling of little feet pattering against the hardwood. She only has to wait 30 seconds before her daughter makes an appearance in the kitchen, rubbing sleepily at her eyes.

"Morning, baby," she says, bending to dust a kiss on the crown of her head. "You sleep okay?"

"Mhm."

"Did the incision give you any trouble?"

She shakes her head. "Doesn't hurt much."

"Perfect," Kate smiles, gently swiveling Annie on her heels and guiding her onto the chair. "Sit. I'll get you some orange juice. You want cereal too?"

"Fruit Loops please," she nods, resting her elbows on the counter top.

She pours the juice and makes the bowl of cereal, sliding both in front of her daughter. She waits a few minutes, until Annie's eaten a considerable amount of the cereal, to bring up the coffee shop.

"Hey, Ann," she starts, waits until the girl lifts her head. "Do you remember Rick from the other day, when you were in the hospital?"

After a second she nods. "Uh huh. He brought me hot chocolate and a muffin," she says, taking another spoonful of Fruit Loops.

"Yeah, he did. And he invited both of us to a coffee shop today to get some more," Kate tells her, watching carefully for any reaction. "What do you think about that?"

"Can I get a chocolate chip cookie this time?"

Well, she expected at least a question or two, but that wasn't exactly the one she'd had in mind.

Kate laughs, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. "Yes, you can get a cookie," she says. "You don't have a problem going to meet up with Rick?"

Annie shakes her head. "He was nice."

She smiles at that, just ruffles Annie's hair and pushes her bangs back as she walks behind her. "Start getting dressed after you finish then, okay? We're going to meet him in about an hour."

"Okay," her daughter says. There's a brief pause. "Mommy?"

"Yeah?"

Annie gives her a smile. "You look pretty."

She responds with a smile of her own, as bright as could be, and wraps her arms around Annie's neck. "Thank you, sweetheart."

Her daughter turns her attention back to her almost-done cereal and the half empty glass of orange juice in front of her, while Kate stands back, watches on with a sense of pride and more love than she ever thought possible for this little girl.

It doesn't occur to her until Annie's in her room, choosing her own outfit, that Kate realizes she'd asked her daughter's opinion on Rick for their _non-date_.

* * *

An hour flies by and they're running a little late, with Kate still working on Annie's hair. She'd asked her to curl it ("like yours, please") and though Kate thinks it looks beautiful just the way it is, with its natural waves, she's more than happy to oblige.

Her daughter sits between the v in her legs, fiddling with one of the games she'd downloaded on Kate's phone while she works through the last few bits of hair. Once the curls are done she lets them sit for a few minutes until they cool down, and then runs her fingers through them to create the wavy curls she does for herself.

"All done," she says, patting Annie's shoulder as she stands. "We have to hurry, kid."

Annie stands and looks in the mirror, grinning at her hair. "We don't curl the bangs?"

"Nope, if we curled them they wouldn't be bangs anymore. They'd be up to here," she laughs, pointing to her hairline. "They look beautiful how they are, Ann."

"Thank you!"

Her daughter nods and skips out of the bathroom and into the living room to grab her shoes and jacket. Kate follows suit, slipping into her peacoat and plucking her gray beanie from the hook. She takes Annie's too, waits until the girl's beside her to slide it over her head.

"It's cold," she says before Annie can protest. She knows she's not the biggest fan of hats, especially when she curls her hair, but she doesn't need her getting a cold or an ear infection because she didn't want to ruin her hair. "You can take it off once we get into the coffee shop."

Annie sighs. "Fine."

"Buck up, kiddo, the curls will still be there when we arrive."

She guides Annie out the door with a hand on the small of her back, grabbing her purse just before she closes the door behind them.

* * *

He's already at the coffee shop when they arrive; she catches sight of him before he does them, sitting in a corner table, a notebook in front of him. At the sound of the door chime he looks up, spots them and shoots a wide smile.

"Hi," he says, standing as they walk up. "It's nice to see you again, both of you."

Annie holds onto her mother's side, slowly releasing when Rick offers her his hand. "Hi, Rick."

"And how are you feeling?" he asks, bending slightly to get to her level.

"Better."

"I'm so glad to hear that. You know, I had the same surgery when I was a little older than you."

The girl perks up, takes a step closer. "Really?"

Rick nods. "Yup. It hurt for a while, but you know what the best part was?" Annie shakes her head, and he leans forward, drops his voice to a conspiratorial whisper that has Kate's lips quirking upwards, her arms crossed over her chest as she tries to stifle a laugh. "My mom felt so bad that I was in pain, she let me eat all the ice cream and desserts that I wanted."

Annie laughs. "Yeah! Mommy's been giving me extra treats because I felt bad," she admits, smiling. "And she said I could have a cookie when we got here."

"Maybe she'll let you have two," he bargains in a stage whisper; it gets a grin out of Annie and an eye roll from Kate.

Rick stands back up, turning his attention to Kate. There's an awkward few seconds where it seems as though neither know what to do. A handshake? A quick hug? They've met a few times now, talked on the phone for hours and opened up to each other, so it wouldn't be so weird, would it? She eventually makes the decision (can tell he won't, doesn't want to make any kind of move if she doesn't want it), closing the space between them and giving him a hug. He responds, squeezing once before letting her go.

"Hi," she says. Her gaze falls to the table, then back at him. "Where's your coffee?"

"Oh, I was waiting for you guys."

"You didn't have to—"

"I know," he assures her with a smile. Moving around the table, he pulls out the chairs for both Annie and Kate, and then motions to the counter. "Sit, I'll get our drinks. Coffee for you, and... hot chocolate for Annie?"

Annie nods happily, taking her seat, and he turns to head towards the front of the shop.

"Rick," Kate calls out, stalling him. "I can get our drinks."

He waves her off. "Nonsense," he says, and she raises a brow, shoots him a look. He sighs and she smirks, knows she's got him. "Next one's on you?"

She nods. "Yes, it is."

It takes her until he's already at the counter, ordering, for her to realize she's just agreed that there'll be a next time.

* * *

A few hours later she finds herself at the same table, coffees and hot chocolates run almost dry. The coffee shop _does_ have marshmallows, big ones, but still Rick takes a small bag from his jacket pocket, plucks a few mini marshmallows and drops them into Annie's cup. The girl grins in response, bringing the to her mouth, giggling when the whipped cream gets on her nose. A second cookie currently sitting in front of Annie, untouched as her daughter concentrates intensely; her tongue peeks out while she draws on the piece of paper Rick had ripped out of his notebook for her.

"What are you drawing?" Kate asks, peering over only to have a pair of tiny hands obstruct her view.

"It's not done," is the response she gets, a raised brow that's oh too similar to her own. She knows that look, that's _her_ look, the one she uses almost daily on the job and now seems to have rubbed off.

Rick chuckles. "She is definitely your daughter."

"Many hours in the delivery room left me with no doubts about this one," she laughs, resting her palm high on Annie's back, between her shoulder blades. "Sometimes it's scary just how similar we look."

She's a mini version of herself, from the facial features and expressions to the hazel eyes she sees in the mirror every morning. Annie looks a lot like she does now, but more so how she did as a child. She's almost certain she'd had the same hairstyle, bangs and hair chopped to the shoulders, when she was seven or eight, too.

"Both beautiful," Rick says, causes her eyes to dart to his, a blush creeping up her neck. "Really."

"Thank you," she breathes, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear. "I think she takes the cake, though."

Annie looks up at the mention of cake, having been completely uninterested up until that point, and neither adult can hold in the laughter.

"Are we getting cake?" she asks, and Kate grins, shakes her head.

"I think two cookies is enough for now," she says, brushing Annie's hair back. "We haven't eaten lunch yet, kid."

"Oh, I didn't even think," Rick cuts in, eyes wide and a look of guilt on his face. "I didn't realize it was lunchtime."

Kate waves him off. "Don't worry about it, we had fun," she says. "Didn't we, Ann?"

Annie nods as she draws, lifting her head briefly to give Rick a look identical to her mother's. "Lots of fun!"

"I'm glad," Rick laughs. "Hey, if you don't have any lunch plans, there's this nice diner a few blocks away. I was gonna head there anyway to get something to eat. Why don't you two join me?"

"Oh, that's okay. We don't want to interrupt your plans."

Truth is, Kate wouldn't mind going to lunch with him. She's hungry, she's sure Annie's hungry for something other than cookies by now, and it'd be nice to spend some more time together. She doesn't _think_ he's inviting them just because he feels bad about keeping them out through lunch, but she needs to be sure, so she's giving him an out if he needs one.

"Please," he drawls. "It wouldn't be an interruption, it'd be an improvement. What better way to spend my time than with the two lovely Beckett ladies?"

She smiles at that, and Annie tugs on her shirt, gestures for her mother to bend down.

"He called us lovely," she whispers in her ear, and Kate chuckles.

"He's got that right," she whispers. "You are lovely."

Annie beams and glances to Rick, who smiles right back.

"If you have plans, that's totally fine," he says once he's turned back to Kate, a soft look on his face. "But I like you guys, the both of you, and spending time with you is... refreshing."

She raises a brow. "Refreshing?"

"Yeah, I mean, not to sound high and mighty but... it's hard to find someone to talk to and be around when you're not too sure of their intentions, you know?"

She nods, because though their situations are different, she gets it. For him, it must be difficult to know whether or not someone's hanging around for his money or status or for him. With her, Annie's the deal breaker. She has to be careful, to know someone's intentions beforehand, before she even thinks about introducing them to her daughter (and most don't get that far). Even then, most guys run when they know she's a single mom with a young kid.

"With you, I know it's not like that. You're here because, for some odd reason, you want to be. Or at least, I hope," he adds on quickly, making her laugh.

"You think correctly," she promises.

"Good," he smiles, his eyes impossibly blue as they lock with hers. "So, yeah, it's nice to be around someone real, someone I can be myself with. And, of course, it doesn't help that you have the world's most adorable daughter."

Annie slides closer to Kate, leaning into her side as she smiles at the man sitting across from them. She turns her gaze after a few seconds, twisting her neck upwards to look at her mother.

"Can we go to lunch with Rick, Mom?" she asks, going as far as to put the puppy dog eyes into play. "Please?"

Tucking her tighter into her side, she chuckles, trails her eyes from Annie back to Rick, who's looking just as hopeful as the seven year old attached to her hip.

"Lead the way."

* * *

Rick leads them a few blocks to Remy's, but she spends the entire walk in awe as she watches on, her daughter holding Rick's hand as they weave through fellow New Yorkers. Annie had asked if she could, and once she knew that Rick didn't mind (though she could tell he was surprised by the request), she couldn't say no.

Now, he ushers them through the entryway.

"I see you brought friends with you this time," the woman up front says with a smile, three menus tucked beneath her arm. "Your usual table?"

He smiles. "That'd be great, please."

The woman guides them to a booth in the back corner and slides the menus onto the table. "Someone will be by in just a minute to take your drink order."

"Thank you, Paige," Rick says as she walks away, then motions to the two of them. "After you."

Kate and Annie sit across from him, the girl immediately picking up the menu to look at the options.

"This place is nice," Kate comments, taking a look around. It's decently low-key, the lighting very subtle and comfortable, a piano in the front. There aren't an obscene amount of people, either, which is always a plus. "A very calm atmosphere."

Rick nods. "Yeah, that's what I love most about it. Aside from the food, of course," he adds with an enthusiastic nod. "Amazing food. The burgers and milkshakes are to die for."

She laughs. "I'll keep that in mind," she says, grabbing her own menu. "You come here a lot?"

He has a usual table which stands to reason that he comes here fairly often, but she finds herself oddly thrilled to realize it doesn't seem as though he brings people with him.

"I come here to write," he explains. "It's a great atmosphere, like you said, and the staff is great here too."

Their waitress arrives to take their drink orders a minute later; a chocolate milkshake for Rick, a vanilla for Annie, and Kate sticks with water.

"Water?"

One brow arches. "Something wrong with water?"

"No, water's perfectly fine. And perfectly boring." She rolls her eyes. "You have to try a milkshake, Kate."

Annie's nodding in agreement. "He said they're good, Mommy. You gotta."

"Hey, kid, you're supposed to be on my side," she teases, nudging at her shoulder.

"I'm on the milkshake's side."

"You haven't even tried it yet," Kate laughs.

Annie shrugs, heaving out a sigh. "But they're milkshakes, they're _always_ good."

Well, it's hard to beat that logic.

"I'll get one with the food, how about that?"

Both her daughter and Rick nod happily.

When it's time to order, all three end up getting burgers and fries, a staple of any diner. Kate, good on her word, adds a strawberry milkshake along with her food to appease the two bodies sitting with her.

"One of each," Rick grins. "Strawberry, chocolate, vanilla."

"It's a set!" Annie says. "That's so cool, isn't it?"

"Yeah, baby. Very cool." Kate pauses, placing her water down. "Hey, speaking of very cool. You never showed us what you drew, Ann."

Annie had stuffed the drawing into Kate's purse as they left, mumbled something about it needing a few final touches.

"Oh yeah," she says, eyes wide. "Can I have it?"

Kate takes it from where it's folded in the front zipper and hands it over. Rick hands over the pen before she can ask for it, earns an appreciative _thank you_ in return. She continues writing something on the drawing for a minute or two and then puts the pen back onto the table.

"All done."

"Can I see?" Kate asks. Annie nods, uncovers the paper from behind her hands and passes it over. Her heart stutters as her eyes gloss over the pen-drawing; a sun in the top corner, a tree on the right, grass all over, and three stick figures (the three of them, with Annie in the middle) with what seem to be cups in their hands. The top, in Annie's child-like writing, it says _thanks for the hot chocolate_. "It's beautiful, sweetie. Why don't you show Rick?"

Rick looks intrigued, and Kate meets his gaze when he looks to her for some sort of reaction. She just nods towards the paper that Annie's handing him and offers a smile.

His face softens at the drawing, a smile stretching ear to ear and his eyes darting to her little girl.

"Thank you so much, Annie," he says, reaching over to squeeze her hand on the table. "It's the best drawing I've ever been given."

"Really?" she beams, sitting up straighter.

"Really!" He looks back down at the paper once before placing it on the table, gently flattening out the creases and keeping it close. "And it's my pleasure, m'lady. I'm happy to provide hot chocolate whenever necessary."

Annie swings her legs happily beneath the table, a small smile on her face. Kate reaches over, rests her hand on the girl's shoulder and squeezes. When she's sure her daughter's attention is elsewhere, fiddling with the dessert menu, she looks to Rick. His face is filled with awe, so genuinely happy to have gotten this little drawing from her kid and it sends her heart into overdrive, beating hastily against the cage of her ribs.

Their food arrives before she has a chance to say anything, but judging by the way he's looking at her, she's not sure anything needs to be said.

The burgers are just as good as he'd said they would be, and the fries go perfectly with the shakes.

"Here," Kate says, grabbing one of her fries and waiting for Annie's attention. "Dip your fry into the milkshake."

Annie giggles. "What?"

"It makes it so much better," she explains, popping her milkshake-fry into her mouth. "I used to do that all the time when I was little."

"Me too," Rick adds.

"It's been so long, but it tastes just as good as I remember." She looks back to Annie. "Try it, sweets."

Annie looks uncertain but picks up a fry anyway, dips it into her vanilla milkshake and takes a bite. Her eyes widen, a look of appraisal on her face.

"Like it?" Kate laughs, though it's unnecessary. She knows her kid.

"It's really good," she says, immediately going for another fry to do the same thing. "We need to come here a lot more."

A chuckle escapes her throat. "We'll see what we can do, okay?"

The rest of lunch goes by, filled with easy conversation and incredible food. It somehow turns into a game between Annie and Rick with the two of them playing I Spy, picking out random things and making the other guess what it is given only limited clues. She joins in eventually, at the insistence of both of them, and the trio continue on for what seems like ages.

Rick sneaks his card to the waitress before she even has a chance to grab her wallet. He tells her it's the same day and this is still considered _this time_ so, technically, it's still his turn. She begrudgingly lets him have it, but makes a mental note to slip his card from him next time and hide it until she's paid.

"So..." he hedges once they're standing once more, getting their coats on. "I know tomorrow's New Year's Eve and you probably have plans already, but if you don't, I was wondering—you know, you're more than welcome to come over to my loft. It'll just be me and mother, unless she skips out like she has a tendency to do, in which case it'll just be me."

Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, she exhales.

Despite herself, a part of her does want to accept. She had plans to take Annie over to her father's, but he'd told her last minute that he's going to the cabin late on New Years Eve instead. He plans to meet up with a few old friends, maybe regain some kind of normalcy for the holidays, and she can't fault him for that. She wants that for her father.

This time of year is still relatively unpleasant for her, still leaves her with a hole where the memories of holidays with her mother no longer fill, but ever since Annie was born she's tried harder to make it special for her.

Even so...

"I don't know," she breathes, looking to the ground before back at him. "I originally took tomorrow off but there's been some kind of misunderstanding and I've been asked to come in, for a few hours at least, so Annie will be with my dad until I get out."

"Oh, it's no problem," he says, but she watches as his shoulders droop ever so slightly and the hope in his eyes deflates.

She contemplates for a brief second before doing something that surprises even herself.

"But maybe if I get off at a decent hour..."

"Yeah?" he asks, a small smile curving at his mouth.

"Yeah, maybe," she settles for, because she can't say _yes_ but she doesn't want to say no either. "I'll give you a call?"

He nods. "Sounds perfect."

They walk back out onto the streets together and hail a cab. Rick stands at the sidewalk when it pulls up, says he's not going back to the loft just yet and that they should take it.

"Bye, Kate. Bye, Annie," he says, waving to the girl as she slides into the backseat.

"Bye, Rick! I hope we see you tomorrow!"

Kate hadn't realized Annie was listening, had heard his invitation, and her breath catches.

"Me too, kid."

* * *

 **A/N** : As usual, I'm immensely grateful for all of your support and kind words. There's one chapter left, followed by an epilogue.


	6. Chapter 6

It's nearing 1:00 when she finishes the last bit of paperwork stacked on her desk. They haven't caught a case yet, surprisingly, but maybe they'll get lucky and make it to the end of their shifts without a body drop.

"Yo, Beckett," Esposito calls as he steps off the elevator. "Lanie said to tell you she's ready to kick your ass."

She laughs. "What?"

"Something about her niece and a certain something she never received."

 _Oh_. "Right," she says with a small huff. "Well, you can call her off. I'm on it."

Grabbing her phone, she chooses the video she'd taken of Annie opening Lanie's present and presses send. She'd intended to send it days ago, but it slipped her mind.

Espo nods. "Ann doing better?"

"Yeah, she's feeling a lot better. Almost seems to be back to her normal self, wit and all."

"She gets that from you, you know," Ryan laughs as he joins the duo at her desk. "All you."

She rolls her eyes. "I might've contributed to it, but it's not _all_ me."

"Come on, Beckett, it's not like Will had a good sense of humor. Or any sense of humor, really," he adds, groaning when Esposito elbows him in the ribs. He grabs onto his injured side and rubs at it. "Sorry."

But she just chuckles, shakes her head. "It's fine, guys. You're right," she admits, looking up at the two of them. "Humor wasn't his strong suit."

"Neither's being a father," Espo mumbles quietly, angrily, and Kate reaches up to grab his forearm. "We're still pissed, you know."

"I know," she nods. "And I appreciate the solidarity. But it's a holiday, so let's focus on something more pleasant, yeah?" They both agree with twin nods. "Good. What are you boys doing to ring in the new year?"

"I'm taking Jenny out to a nice restaurant for dinner. We'll probably just go back to the apartment and sit on the couch with some champagne to watch the ball drop."

"How romantic," Espo teases, dodging Ryan's slap. "I'll be with Lanie. I think she wanted to go into Times Square but I managed to talk her out of that; _no_ thank you. So we'll probably head to the Old Haunt."

"What about you, Beckett?"

"Yeah, you could come with me and Lanie if you wanted."

She smiles at the offer, but quickly shakes her head. As much as she loves her friends, loves hanging out with them at the Old Haunt, playing third wheel on New Years Eve doesn't sound at all appealing. She knows those two; they'll be all coupley (despite Esposito's constant nonchalance when they're in public) and she'll have to sit alone at a bar stool, vodka soda in her hand and eyes glued to the television above the bar.

"Thanks, Javi, but I actually... I have plans."

The boys give each other looks, brows raised, before turning back to her with smirks plastered on their faces.

"Ooh, plans," Ryan teases.

"Hot date, Beckett?"

"So what if it is?" she tosses back.

Ryan and Espo grin at one another. "Beckett's gonna get a little New Years—"

"Before you finish that sentence in the way I'm sure you're about to finish that sentence, know that Annie will be with me the entire time."

They deflate at that, Esposito's mouth clamping shut and she just laughs, knowing she's thwarted whatever ideas they just had about her so-called hot date. It's not a hot date, she tells herself; it's not even a _date_. He didn't ask her for it to be a date.

Annie will be there and he knows that, had insisted it be the two of them to begin with; he wouldn't plan their first date when her daughter was with them.

(It may not be a date, but that doesn't stop her from thinking about what would be their first date.)

By 4:00, she's going crazy. She's had probably six cups of coffee from the break room (it's not good but it's better than no coffee at all) and she's redone her paperwork twice. It's neater now. Her shift ends at 5, and they're still murder free.

When her phone rings at 4:43, she holds her breath, sighs as she picks it up and expects it to be a call about a body and for her plans to go pick up Annie and head over to Rick's to be scratched.

"Beckett," she answers, already standing, but she sits back down when the voice comes through. "Annie? Are you all right, is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Mommy!"

That soothes the knots in her chest. "What's going on, sweetheart?"

"Are you coming to get me soon?" she asks. "Grandpa said you were gonna call."

"I'm coming to pick you up as soon as I get off work, baby," she assures her daughter, smiling at the impatience. "Fifteen minutes and I'll leave, okay?"

Annie sighs in a way only a seven year old can and she chuckles. "Okay," the girl agrees.

"Mommy has to make sure she finished everything so I can leave on time, so I'll see you very soon, okay?"

Her daughter says her goodbyes, gets distracted by the sounds of her father in the background calling about what sounds like a game of monopoly, and Kate laughs, hanging up when the phone line goes dead.

"Go, Beckett," Espo says, rolling over in his desk chair. "There's only 10 minutes left."

She shakes her head. "There could be a body."

"There won't be," he says, as if he has any say in the matter. "And if there is, we can deal with it. Go."

"Yeah, go get Ann," Ryan joins. "Consider it a New Years gift from us to you."

"You don't get presents on New Years."

"Do you want the present or not?"

She chews on the inside of her cheek, looking between her two boys. "Okay," she breathes, fixing up her desk and moving to stand. "Thank you, guys."

"Give your girl a hug and kiss from us," Espo says, to which Ryan nods.

"Will do. Happy New Year," she smiles as she grabs her jacket and walks out. "Don't do anything too wild!"

They grumble and she laughs, shuffling her way into the elevator. It's time to go get her kid.

* * *

"Mommy!"

She's met with Annie colliding into her legs the second she walks through the door and her arms band around the girl.

"Hi, baby," she says. "Easy, speed demon. Don't wanna jostle your side."

"I know, I was careful!"

And then she's off again, tugging Kate with her into the kitchen where her father stands by the counter, a smile on his face.

"What'd you give her?" she asks with a laugh, nodding to the girl who looks like she's had an armful of sugar. "A basket of candy?"

"Of course not. Only a handful," her father teases. "She takes after you, Katie. All the energy in the world."

Shooting her dad a smile, she turns back to Annie. "You have fun with Grandpa today?"

"Uh huh! We baked cookies!"

"Did you now?"

She follows Annie's lead, weaving behind her dad to find two trays of chocolate chip cookies sitting on the stove.

"Grandpa said we can take some with us," her daughter grins, bouncing on her heels. "We can eat them tonight!"

Kate brushes Annie's hair away from her forehead, gently dipping her head backwards. "That's nice of Grandpa," she says, turning to the man in question, who's watching along with a look of pride on his face. "Thanks for watching her, Dad. And for the cookies."

"Anytime, Katie. You know I love spending time with my favorite granddaughter."

"She's your only granddaughter," she points out with a roll of her eyes.

"Doesn't change facts, you know."

Laughing, she concedes. "What time are you heading up to the cabin?"

Jim looks to his watch and hums. "In about a half hour. A few of my buddies want to go to the lake, spend some time fishing like we used to."

"That'll be nice," she nods. She's glad her dad's finally getting back out there, spending time with the friends he'd been so close with back before her mom died. This will be good for him, and she takes it as a huge step forward, especially considering it's a holiday. "I'm glad you'll get to see them again."

"Me too," he smiles. "I have pictures of my girls in my wallet. They'll be shocked to see how Little Katie's grown, and that she has a baby of her own."

"Not a baby," Annie pipes up, half a cookie stuffed into her mouth.

The adults laugh and Jim raises his hands before squeezing her shoulder. "My apologies. They'll be surprised to see that Katie has a big girl of her own."

" _Thank_ you."

"They haven't seen you since you were, what, 15?" Jim asks, and she thinks for a second before nodding. "Crazy."

"It is," she agrees. "Tell them all Happy New Year for me."

She doesn't remember much about her father's friends, but she does remember what a nice group of guys they were; always greeting her, including her in their fishing when she was hanging out with her dad and they'd run into them. She's pretty sure one of them let her use their rod and she hooked it onto a rock, snapped it in half.

If she ever sees them again, she'll apologize for that one.

"Okay, you," she says then, leading Annie away from the baked goods. "Go grab your jacket, we have to get going."

"Mom!"

"Grandpa has somewhere to be and so do we," she says with a pointed look, and she watches as Annie's brows raise. Kate taps her nose. "I'll tell you when you have your coat on." She turns to her dad again, wrapping him in a hug. "Thanks again, Dad. Happy New Year."

He presses a kiss to her head. "Happy New Year, Katie." Annie runs over next, wraps her little arms around his torso. "Happy New Year, Ann."

"Happy New Year, Grandpa!"

Kate guides Annie out of the kitchen with one last wave over her shoulder.

(But not before her father taps her on the arm, hands her a container filled to the brim with cookies and a grin).

* * *

Annie makes it approximately 5 minutes, waits until she's in the car and buckled in before she leans forward, pushes her face between the driver and passenger seat and looks over at her mother.

"Where are we going?"

Kate smiles through the rear view mirror. "Where do you think we're going?"

"Are we going... home?" she asks, but Kate shakes her head.

"Nope."

Annie thinks for a few seconds before she gasps. "Are we going to Rick's? Mom, are we going?"

"Yeah, baby, we're going," she confirms, watches as her daughter beams, the smile stretching across her face. "We _do_ have to stop at home, actually, so I can get changed, but then we'll go over."

Once in the apartment, Annie doesn't even bother taking off her jacket. She sits on the couch, bundled in her winter coat and even keeps her beanie on as she waits for Kate to get changed. Her kid's already dressed for New Years, with her maroon dress and thick tights.

She strips from her work clothes, the dress pants and blouse she'd put on that morning, and decides to switch into one of the dresses from the back of her closet that she never touches. Holding two in her hands, she bites her bottom lip in thought.

She chooses the black dress with long sleeves and a sheer panel between the breasts, dipping a bit lower, and tries not to think about it too much. A quick look in the mirror tells her that her hair's fine; turns out doing a lot of nothing in the bullpen keeps the curls in tact.

Striding from the bedroom, she gets a grin and a thumbs up from Annie as she passes.

"You look so pretty!" she gushes, jumping from the couch to trail behind her mother. "Rick will think so too."

Her heart stutters. "Why do you say that?"

"Because he already thinks you're pretty and now you look _extra_ pretty," she says as if that's obvious. "So he'll think you look even prettier!"

She doesn't ask why she thinks Rick thinks she's pretty, just bends, wraps one arm around Annie's shoulder and presses a kiss to her forehead.

"Thank you, baby."

When she straightens, Annie's already in front of her, grabbing a pair of heels from the closet and handing them over. Funnily enough, they're the pair she was going to choose.

"Excellent choice," she tells her daughter with a smile. "I'll be ready in a second, okay?"

With shoes on, she slips into her jacket and hooks her bag over her shoulder. Annie wastes no time and leads the charge out the door, leaving a laughing Kate to lock the door and trail behind the excited seven year old.

* * *

Rick had given her the address soon after the invitation, just in case, and so they take a taxi there. She travels behind Annie as she skips into the lobby.

"Ann," she calls, stopping the girl before she can get to the elevators. She stalls, and Kate turns to the front desk man. "Hi, we're here to see Rick Castle."

The man, whose name tag says Eduardo, smiles. "He had mentioned he might be expecting company," he says warmly. "Go right on up, ma'am. Top floor."

"Thank you." Turning to move towards Annie, she nods. "You can press it now."

The elevator takes them all the way up, dings at the last possible stop and she's not sure she's been breathing the entire ride. She's suddenly nervous, which is stupid because this is no more significant than their last outing. Yes, it's New Year's Eve, a holiday typically spent with loved ones or significant others, but it doesn't matter. She knows how much Annie wanted to accept the invitation, and so she did, so her daughter can have some fun.

She'd be lying if she said she didn't want to come, too, if she didn't think she'd have some fun. She finds Rick... well, yeah, _fun_. And after so long being on her own, doing what she needs to and not much else, she's finally realizing she deserves some fun.

Maybe she should've called ahead of time, though, told him they were coming. Maybe he has someone else over.

She's jolted from her thoughts when Annie grabs onto her hand and tugs her from the elevator. "Come _on_ , Mommy," she sighs, dragging her down the hall. "We have to go inside so I can take off my coat. It's hot."

"If you'd have taken it off at home instead of waiting you wouldn't be so hot."

The girl shakes her head. "Couldn't."

They're standing outside his apartment 30 seconds later and she pauses, takes a deep breath. Before she has a chance to contemplate leaving, turning around and saying that she feels ill, Annie's already knocking on the door.

So much for that.

The door swings open and they're greeted with a surprised Rick, eyes wide but happy, and a wide grin on his face.

"You guys made it! Please, come in," he says, pushing the door wider and stepping back. "I'll hang your coats."

She looks around as she takes off the peacoat, her jaw dropping at the space. It's... huge. She'd expected it to be nice, of course; this is Richard Castle and it's no secret he has money, but... wow. The decorations take everything to the next level, Christmas themed decor still hanging proudly along with some New Years specific streamers and banners.

"This place is beautiful," she breathes, eyes still scanning until they get to his. "Really, Rick, this is lovely."

He shrugs. "I do okay." He turns his attention to Annie, taking the jacket from her hands to hang it on the hook. "Can I get you two something to drink? I have soda, hot chocolate, tea, juices."

"Can I have apple juice please?" Annie asks.

"One apple juice coming right up," he smiles. "You can go check out the living room if you want, Annie. I have a bunch of movies and games in the entertainment center."

Her daughter's off at the mention of games, and Kate follows Rick into the kitchen.

"Wine?" he asks, and she nods.

"A glass would be nice." She doesn't like to drink when she's around Annie, but because of the holiday she'll allow herself a glass now, and maybe some champagne when the ball drops. "Thanks again for inviting us. Annie's been excited since she knew it was a possibility."

"Really?" he asks, grabbing the preferred drinks and putting them on the counter. "I'm—I'm glad. Thank you for coming. The night's already better."

She dips her head, bites at her lip. "Thanks," she murmurs, taking the wine from his hand. Remembering the container in her grasp, she holds it out. "Oh, we come bearing baked goods."

"Oh, you didn't have to do that," he says, but takes the cookies anyway, places them on the counter. "They look delicious though."

She smiles. "Annie baked them with my dad, so she'll be glad to hear that."

"You've got quite the little chef on your hands." He grins. "Should we join her?" he asks then, apple juice in one hand and his own glass of wine in the other. "I really do have a lot of games, I'd be more than happy to open one for her."

Kate nods. "That sounds great."

Drinks on the coffee table, they sit on the carpet with Annie, perusing the game options. She eventually decides that she wants to play either Monopoly (even though Kate's pretty sure she _just_ played it with her father), Candy Land, or Clue.

Rick hums. "How about Candy Land? That was always one of my favorites."

Both Becketts agree and they begin, the three of them huddled around the board and grabbing their appropriate pieces. Annie giggles every time she gets further than both of them, and they take turns nudging the laughter out of her.

Kate sits back at one point, watches as Rick and Annie whisper to each other, seemingly conspiring but the way her daughter laughs, keeps smiling as Rick gestures dramatically to her, it has her heart on fire. She's almost surprised he doesn't have kids with the way he's so good with them, treats them not like babies but like a normal person: with respect and kindness.

It makes him even more attractive.

It's been a while since she's seen a man interact so well with her daughter, or at all (aside from the boys), that she can't help the warm smile that curls at the edges of her mouth, the way her hand lifts to her chin, fingers delicately landing on her lips.

"You okay?" Rick asks after a few minutes of her zoning out, a look of gentle concern and amusement playing on his face.

"Yeah," she assures him, trailing her gaze between the two of them. "Yeah, everything's great."

* * *

At 11:50, she stands at the window in his living room, the vast expanse of New York City visible to her. The lights on the buildings and from the cars on the streets, the horns from down below, sounds of people outside, all of them enjoying the night.

Her arms cross over her chest, wine in her left hand as she stares out at the city she calls her own. It's so peaceful like this, lit up and not overrun with murder.

She feels Rick creep up to her side and turns her head, gives him a smile. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Extremely," he whispers, and when she looks back he's staring at her, not out the window, and a flush creeps from her chest to her neck. "I don't think I said it when you guys came in, but you look stunning, Kate. That dress... incredible."

"You look pretty dapper yourself," she murmurs, a smirk on her lips.

At 11:55, Annie tugs the two of them away from the window and tells them that it's almost time.

"Only five minutes!"

"So close, Ann. It's gonna be a new year," she smiles. "Are you excited?"

"Uh huh! I'll be eight this year. That's big."

Kate chuckles, warmth spreading throughout her chest. "I know," she breathes, bending down to her level. "You're growing so fast, baby. Can't you stay little for a bit?"

Annie shakes her head on a giggle. " _No_ , Mommy. I'll be eight and then nine and then ten and then—"

"Okay, kiddo," she cuts her off with a laugh. "One year at a time, all right? You'll always be my little baby."

When she stands back up, she finds Rick watching them, admiration clear in his eyes.

At 11:59, the three of them stand in front of the television waiting for the signature countdown to begin. Annie nearly squeaks when it starts at 10, and she joins in, yelling out the numbers as they dwindle down.

"Nine," she yells. "Eight!"

"Seven."

"Six."

"Five."

Kate and Rick make eye contact, share a knowing smile that sends her stomach flipping all over the place.

"Four."

"Three."

"Two."

She grabs hold of Annie's shoulder and shouts the last one with her, their voices mixing with Rick's as he joins.

"One!"

"Happy New Year, baby," Kate grins, bending to kiss her daughter on the cheek.

Annie squeals. "Happy New Year! Happy New Year, Rick!"

"Happy New Year, Annie," he says, ruffling her hair. He turns to Kate. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, Rick."

They hold each other's gaze for a few seconds. Her tongue darts out, wets her bottom lip as her eyes flicker down to his lips. His breath hitches; she can hear it, see it in the way his throat bobs, and she bites the inside of her cheek.

The two of them seem to move in slow motion, but they gravitate towards each other, her hand finding purchase on his shoulder while his lands on her cheek. His lips slant over hers, his hands moving into her hair. It's soft, delicate, and she's certain they're both hyper aware of the child in the room, but it's perfect.

When they pull back she bites at her lip, lets her forehead rest against his for a few seconds.

"That was..."

"Yeah," she murmurs.

So, maybe it doesn't have to be _completely_ a non-date.

When they say no more, he grabs his glass from the coffee table and holds her out for her. "To... new beginnings?"

Annie hits her glass of apple juice against both of their glasses, a wide smile aimed up at the two of them, and Kate tugs her into her side. Her eyes find his once more, finds hope swimming in them and offers him a shy smile.

"To new beginnings."

* * *

 **A/N** : Thank you all _so_ much for sticking with this little story, your kind words mean so much to me. I'm sad to see it end, but I had always planned for it to end on New Years and I think it's a nice place to finish.

There _is_ an epilogue to follow, but it needs a little reworking and the rest of this month is verging on insanely busy, so please bear with me as it may take an extra week or so to get up.


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"Breathe, Kate."

Rick's voice brings her attention away from the ice, from the handful of girls practicing and warming up. The calming palm placed at the small of her back grounds her, allows the tension to slowly flow from her body.

"I'm breathing," she murmurs, rolling her neck.

He chuckles. "You're panicking," he counters lightly. "She'll do great, okay? The worst that can happen is she falls. She'll lose some points, maybe she won't win, but she'll get back up, she'll finish, and she'll get 'em next time."

She forces a nod, knows he's right, but it's her baby. All those hours of lessons and extra practices, the early mornings and tears, have led her here. She came in third at Regionals and second at Sectionals, and now her little girl is here at Nationals. Kate's been trying her best to keep up with the technical side of figure skating, all of the jumps and spins and what competitions lead where. Nationals, as Annie has been squealing about since she qualified, is generally used to determine the U.S. teams for the World Junior Championships, World Championships, Four Continents, and the Winter Olympics.

Kate's gaze trails back to the rink, eyes focusing in on Annie easily in her bright lilac dress. Rhinestones detail the bodice and the skirt is flowy, billows in the air with every glide of her skates.

She looks beautiful, her hair pulled into a neat up-do, little ringlet curls free in the front to frame her face.

At twelve years old, Annie's one of the younger skaters in the competition. She boasts that she'll be the next Tara Lipinski, heading to the Olympics within the next few years, and it's the pure determination in her daughter's eyes that has her believing she'll work until she gets there. It's the kind of fire she used to see in her own eyes, the flames ignited when she was working on her mother's case. She's glad Annie's end goal is less destructive.

"Thanks for coming," she breathes, leaning into Rick's side. "I know you have that publisher meeting, but it means a lot to her."

"Kate, please. You know I wouldn't miss this for the world," he says, turning his head to the ice, and it's the pure adoration that glimmers in his eyes as he looks out at her daughter that sets her heart on fire. She does know.

A long year and a half of conning herself into believing she only wanted to be friends wore her out and, well, denying the inevitable didn't really work out. She'd been a goner since the day he said he'd bring mini marshmallows for her kid just in case the cafe didn't have any. Even more done for when he'd made good on his promise.

Now it's been three years they've been together, her longest relationship to date, and she couldn't be happier. If she's being honest, Rick's the best thing that could have happened to the both of them.

Rick's nudge brings her attention back to the rink where the skaters begin to leave the ice, signaling the end of warm ups and the beginning of the event.

Annie's skating fourth, she's pretty sure, and the first girl is just finishing her routine. It's beautiful—of course she's here for her daughter, but she can't deny the talent of the other girls.

From where they're sitting they have a partial view of the curtain leading to backstage, the area where those in the wings wait for their turn, and a harried waving motion catches her eye. Turning her head, she sees Annie standing just behind the curtain, one hand clutched into the fabric as she tries to stay out of sight of the ice. The girl's eyes widen when she realizes she caught her attention, and she waves, makes a _come here_ motion with her free hand before disappearing behind the curtain.

"I'll be right back," Kate whispers to Rick, running her hand over his forearm.

"What's up?" he asks, following her line of sight when she nods towards the wings. "Everything okay?"

Shrugging, she presses a kiss to his cheek. "I'll find out."

Crouching down so as not to obstruct anyone's view of the second skater now entering the ice, she makes her way down the few rows of stairs and squeezes past crew to sneak around the curtain.

Annie's pacing back and forth a few feet away, her hands wringing in front of her. She can feel the nervous energy radiating from her tiny body from here.

"Ann, hey," she says as she walks up, watching as Annie spins around to face her. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know if I can do this."

Kate sighs, squatting in place so she's level with the girl, her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Of course you can," she says, rubbing down Annie's biceps. "You know your routine front and back. You could do it in your sleep. Where's this coming from?"

Annie walks away for a second, peering out onto the ice to watch the girl reach the climax of her short program.

"They're all so good."

Ah. She follows her daughter, gently tugging her back, turning her on her heels so she's looking at her, not the skater.

"So are you, baby. You're amazing—you're _here_ , just like they are."

"But they're so much older, Mom! I can't—they're bigger and faster and they can do more tricks than I can," Annie says, her foot tapping anxiously in place.

Kate offers a soft smile, her hand running along her daughter's forehead. Some of the girls are 16, 17 years old, and she knows that despite the facade her kid puts on most of the time, it's intimidating.

"You competed against girls the same age as them at Regionals _and_ Sectionals, kid. And you beat them."

"But this is for—"

"I know," she soothes. Annie's confidence is always at an all time high when it comes to her skating—she's good, exceptional for her age, and she knows it. Never cocky, but always confident. But she knows this is getting to her because if she places well enough, she could very well be chosen to represent the USA at a number of high stakes competitions. "And that's wonderful; it would be _amazing_ if you won, baby, but that's not what matters here, okay? What matters is you do your best."

Annie groans. "Mom."

"It's true," she chuckles. "I won't be any less proud of you if you completely mess up your routine, Ann. _Which you won't_. And neither will Rick. As long as you do what you know you can, and you go out there and have fun, that's all we could ask for."

"But I want to win."

"I know you do, kid. That's only natural. But if you only focus on winning, you'll psych yourself out and you won't skate your best. You know what I want you to do?" Annie shakes her head. "Forget about winning. Go out there and pretend you're skating for fun, pretend you're not at a competition—just do what you usually do and you can't go wrong."

Her daughter mulls over what she's said and then gives a small nod, lets out a heavy breath. "Okay," she says. "I'll try."

Kate grins. "Good. Do you feel better?"

Annie nods. "Yeah," she confirms, closing the space between them to throw her arms around her mother's neck. "Thanks, Mom."

"You've got it, baby," Kate whispers into her ear. "Now go out there and kill it."

"I will!"

By the time she stands from her spot on the floor, the third skater is rounding out her routine, almost finished, and Annie's being called to wait for her turn. Kate gives her one last thumbs up, making sure she's okay, and when she gets a genuine smile and thumbs up in return, she makes her way back into the stands.

Rick's already watching her as she sidles up beside him, taking her seat once more.

"She all right?" he asks, concern written on his face.

She gives a soothing smile, a nod. "Yeah, just some pre-skate nerves is all. But you're right, she'll be okay."

When Annie broaches the ice and the announcer introduces her, Kate's hand instinctively grasps for Rick's and he grips tightly, comforting. The little girl that skates onto the ice is a complete turnaround from the nervous 12 year old she'd just been talking to. This girl is confident, a bright smile on her face for the crowd. She finds the two of them in the stands and her smile brightens.

"She's beautiful, Kate."

Beaming, she can't take her eyes off of her child. "She is, isn't she."

The music starts and Annie glides across the ice just as smoothly as she did during her warm-up. Her dress flows behind her and her face lights up as she skates her short program, facial expressions vibrant and on point. She gets through her toe loop and soon begins her backwards glide to execute her lutz, which Kate knows is one of her favorite jumps.

Annie says it makes her feel like she's flying.

The beaming smile plastered on her face when she lands it perfectly allows Kate to release the breath she didn't know she was holding. Rick tightens his grip on her hand.

It's the last segment of the program she's concerned about; they've recently added a triple salchow, a jump Annie's only just begun to land. Kate had suggested she stick with a single or double, but Annie was adamant ("A triple is more impressive, Mom!"). She's been doing fairly well with it, landing two thirds of her attempts, but she knows she's putting so much pressure on herself and worries that may affect the outcome.

She almost looks away, but Rick draws circles on her palm with his thumb, soothing, and she forces herself to breathe.

"Come on, Ann," Kate murmurs to herself when the jump approaches. "You can do it."

She does. Mostly.

The landing is wobbly; she just about loses her footing and Kate's breath hitches, her body already easing from the seat, but Annie catches herself and balances out, saves it. Kate blows out a breath, and Rick tugs her into his side.

Annie finishes the program with a smile and an ending pose for the judges, but Kate knows her kid. The smile doesn't reach her eyes, and she knows she's upset with herself about the last jump.

Her daughter stalks off the ice and disappears once more behind the curtain. She's in the Kiss and Cry minutes later, sitting with her coach as she awaits her scores. Cameras are on, of course, so they can watch from the audience as she bounces her knees nervously. When the scores are announced, she's in fourth place behind the previous three skaters; the wobble cost her some points, letting the third place skater inch above her.

Knowing she's about to head backstage once more, Kate moves to stand, to make sure she's okay, but Rick puts his hand on her shoulder.

"Can I?" he asks, his eyes so expressive and hopeful, and she smiles, lowering herself back into her seat.

"Go ahead."

Rick returns the smile and makes his way to the same area Kate had met her daughter earlier. Annie's in the back, sitting on one of the benches with her elbows resting on her thighs, head in her open palms. Her skates are still on her feet; at least the skate guards are in place.

"Hey," he greets softly. "Is this seat taken?"

Annie looks up and offers a weak smile. "Hi, Rick."

"You were gorgeous out there, Ann," he says, and when he gets no response, he uses his index finger to tip her chin in his direction. "You were perfect."

The girl shakes her head. "No. I messed up the triple salchow," she sighs. "I messed it up! I landed it in practice. I didn't even place!"

"Hey, hey. These things happen, okay? You can't beat yourself up about it." She meets his eyes, raises a skeptical brow. "This is just the short program. There's still another program to go, and you can _totally_ make up those points."

"Yeah," she murmurs quietly. "Maybe."

"No maybes," he says, lowering his voice. "Definitely. I know just how good you are, and you'll go out there and show them that _yeah_ , you fumbled a landing a little bit, but you're back and ready to take one of those top three spots."

Rick watches her relax a bit, and takes this as a good sign.

"You're a perfectionist, just like your mother," he says with a small laugh. "There's no doubt you're her child. But want to know a secret?" She nods. "She gets nervous too. And when she messes up, she gets upset just like this."

"She does?" Annie asks, twisting to face him.

He knows Kate keeps Annie away from some of her worse days, wants to avoid having her daughter see her at her lower and more down moments, but if Annie knows Kate—who's the girl's own personal superhero—feels like this too, he's certain she'll feel better.

"Of course, silly! When something goes wrong on a case, or when something really small happens that she knows could've gone better, she feels exactly like you do right now. But you know what she does?"

"What?"

"She gets back up and she faces the challenge head on. She doesn't let that small setback hold her down."

Annie nods. "I guess. I don't want to disappoint her," the girl admits.

"Oh, Ann, no." He wraps his arm around her, pulling her into his side. "You could never disappoint your mom. She's so proud of you no matter what."

He knows that Annie _does_ know she could never disappoint Kate, especially not when she's out here doing something so incredible to begin with, but he also knows she's feeling down because of her misstep.

"So, what are you gonna do?" he asks after a moment, pulling back to look the girl in the eyes.

Annie grins. "I'm gonna go out there and rock my long program."

"That's right you are!"

"Thanks, Rick," she smiles, hugging him with force, her little arms wrapped around his neck. "I'll do better this time!"

He laughs. "You'll be perfect. Besides, there are no triple salchows in your long program," he reminds, and she smiles, nods enthusiastically. "You've got this. And regardless of the results, we're both so incredibly proud of you."

With Annie being called over by her coach for some last minute reminders regarding her last program, Rick returns to the stands and takes his seat beside Kate once more.

"She's fine," he assures before she can ask. "She was upset about the landing, obviously, but she's all right now."

Kate leans in, pressing a kiss to his lips. "Thank you."

It seems like forever before the long program starts, so many skaters after her daughter needing to first skate their short programs. Each skater goes, receives their scores, and they wait with bated breaths for Annie's turn. She skates better than her short dance, with a renewed fire beneath her skates and a flawless routine. No wobbles, clean landings, and a beaming smile.

When all of the skaters finish and scores are announced, Annie finishes third. Her score from the long program pushes her ahead and makes up for the first stumble, and Kate tears up, can feel herself getting emotional. When she looks over at the man next to her, she notices his glassy eyes too and she grabs his hand, clasping it between hers.

Despite coming in third, she isn't chosen for a US team. It's because she's too young, she's told. Requirements have changed recently, upping the minimum age to qualify for senior internationals to 15, and she vaguely remembers it being mentioned a few weeks ago but in the rush of practices they'd forgotten. The coach comes up to Kate afterwards, though, and explains that Annie has such potential and within the next few years, he has "no doubt she'll find her place on the Olympic team."

Annie clutches onto Kate's torso when he says he sees a lot of Tara Lipinski in her daughter, and she smooths a hand over her head.

As they're leaving the rink, with Annie's bronze medal securely around her neck and the bouquet of flowers Rick had given her tucked safely beneath her arm, Kate pulls her to the side and bends down. With both hands braced on her daughter's thin shoulders, she presses a kiss to her forehead.

"I'm so proud of you," she says. " _So_ proud. You were beautiful out there."

Annie blushes. "Thank you."

Rick reiterates the sentiment, and the girl bows her head, as bashful as her mother is when receiving compliments.

"What do you say, Beckett ladies," Rick announces once they make it to the car. "I say this calls for a celebration. Remy's?"

The enthusiastic, in unison _yes!_ that resounds from both women causes a loud laughter to break from his chest.

A few hours later, bellies full and hearts happy, they return to Rick's loft. He's become increasingly more anxious the closer they came to his apartment, but Kate hasn't mentioned it, just arches a questioning brow as she watches him fidget.

"I'll put your stuff on the counter," he says, taking the takeaway bag from her. "Make yourselves comfortable."

Annie makes a beeline for the television and plops herself down on the couch, but Kate follows her boyfriend into the kitchen.

"You okay?" she asks, coming up behind him.

"Yeah, of course."

"You seem a bit... off."

His head shake is too quick. Something's definitely up, which makes no sense, because he was fine during the competition and even through dinner. Well, okay, the weirdness began _at_ dinner, as it came to a close.

"All good," he promises, giving her a smile as he tiptoes around her. "Can I take your coat?"

But she shakes her head. "We should probably get going, actually. It's been a long day."

"You could stay here, you know," he says.

As much as she'd love to...

"We don't have any clothes here."

"Okay," he says. She can see something in his eyes, something she can't pinpoint. "But before you guys go..." He gestures to the living room where Annie is sitting comfortably, still donned in her leotard with sweatpants thrown over top, and Kate follows. He disappears into his office for a minute before returning.

"I uh... there's something I've been wanting to say. For a while now, actually, but I couldn't find the right time." Annie's paying attention now, her attention on Rick. "But then I realized _any_ time can be the right time, and waiting isn't what I want to do anymore."

She's... confused. Intrigued, but confused.

"Kate, meeting you was—it was one of the best days of my life. Now, obviously, the circumstances on both our sides were less than ideal, but because both lovely ladies involved are completely healed I can say I am grateful that the universe brought us together."

She chuckles, her lips quirking. Sometimes the best things come out of bad situations, her mother had always told her. She was right.

"These past three years have been incredible, and my life is so much more rich because the two of you are in it." Kate watches as Rick looks to Annie, and the two share a look; Rick gives her a wink and her daughter grins, almost... almost as if she knows what he's doing. "You're the most stunning woman I know, both inside and out—brilliant, fierce, and undeniably hot, of course." Her cheeks blush. "I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to be in your life, and for giving me the pleasure of knowing you, and your daughter. She's... I love her like she's my own, you know, and I would do anything to keep the two of you happy and safe."

Tears fill her eyes now, her hand coming to cover her mouth. This seems like... but it can't be.

He's not, is he?

"I'm the best version of myself when I'm with you, and Annie," he starts, and then he reaches into his pocket as he descends onto one knee and oh my god, he _is_. She's crying now, both hands clasped over her mouth as tears cascade down her cheeks. "There's nothing more in this world that would make me happier than to spend the rest of my life with you."

He opens the box, revealing the most beautiful ring she's ever seen, and looks up at her, nothing but love reflected back.

"So, Katherine Houghton Beckett," he says, his voice hitching with emotion around her name. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes!"

It's Annie who answers immediately, jumping from the couch, and neither adult can hold in the laughter that bubbles from their throats. Kate wipes the tears from her eyes, engulfing her daughter in her arms as she continues to laugh, and meets Rick's eyes over the girl's head.

"What she said," she grins, reveling in the happiness that breaks across his face.

With Annie between them, Rick slides the engagement ring on Kate's finger and slants his mouth over hers. The girl steps back, hands clasped together happily as Kate to wrap her arms around him, burrowing her face into his neck.

"I love you," he breathes into her hair, then looks down at Annie. "Both of you."

"Love you, Mom and Rick," Annie beams, hugging the both of them. Kate re-adjusts herself, one arm around Rick and the other around her daughter to include her in this group hug. "Glad you finally asked!"

Kate pulls back. "You knew about this?" she laughs, wiping at another tear.

"Uh huh! Since Rick asked me if he could."

She turns her attention to Rick now, eyes wide and a new wave of emotion brewing in her stomach. "You—asked Annie if you could marry me?"

He... _asked her daughter's permission_?

"Of course," he says, so easily, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, the most normal thing to do. "She's the most important thing in your life, Kate. She comes first, always, and if she wasn't going to be okay with this I wouldn't even think about making her upset."

Oh, this man. She doesn't even fight the fresh tears that come now.

"How did I get so lucky," she mumbles, kissing him again before hiding her face in his chest.

From a father who didn't want to be a father, who treated his own daughter as a burden he couldn't be bothered with, to a man who has no obligation to her daughter but loves her as his own, who thinks about her opinions before asking her to marry him... she's speechless.

"I don't know, I feel like I'm the luckiest man on earth."

"Does this call for an ice cream celebration?" Annie interjects, and both adults turn to look down at her, smiles stretched across their mouths at her innocent face. "Because I definitely think we should have ice cream."

Laughing, Kate and Rick pull apart, and she tugs her daughter into her side as she moves them towards the kitchen.

"I _guess_ we could break the late night snack rule tonight," she teases.

Following close behind, guiding the two of them into seats as he rounds the island, Rick grabs two containers of ice cream from the freezer.

"So, Ann, how do you feel about the three of us being a family?" Kate asks once they're all seated, three full bowls of ice cream in front of them.

Annie looks between the two of them, brows furrowed in confusion.

"I thought we already were a family."

She didn't think it possible, but Kate's heart swells even more. Annie's right; this makes it official, in a sense, but they've been a family for a while now. Meeting Rick's eyes as she brushes Annie's bangs from her face, she smiles.

"You're right, baby. We are a family."

* * *

 **A/N** : Sorry for the delay! Between midterms and applying to grad schools, the past few weeks have been much busier than I'd anticipated. Thank you all so much for sticking with this story, and I hope this final installment was worth the wait!

Also, for the sake of the epilogue let's pretend the rule upping the age of eligibility for senior international competitions from 12 to 15 happened recently and not in 1996.


End file.
